WHEN YOU HEARD A BOOK READ ALOUD, back when you were just a wee tot, maybe from your vantage point of the library floor (one of the very best spots for storytime) or while cuddled up with your stuffed animals, just before night-night, you likely, somewhere deep in your noggin, realized you'd live a life loving stories of all sorts. Those stories, as we grow older, can take on many fabulous and memorable forms, from movies to games, but we still connect to the experience of sitting before a right-there storyteller as they place their hands in the air, and widen their eyes, the better to convey mystical valleys or strange characters or outlandish legends or a bit of all of the above. Storytelling isn't a lost art form, and to say we enjoy it less frequently as adults isn't correct, given the surge of live storytelling events at bars and restaurants in recent years and the many public radio shows and podcasts that celebrate all sorts of story-sharing. To dig in even deeper, though, consider a visit to the...
OJAI STORYTELLING FESTIVAL, which will once again feature talented performers who are able to put together fantastical imagery and plots and character through their words and ability to connect with the audience members sitting before them. The four-day festival runs from Thursday, Sept. 7 through Sunday, Sept. 10, and a host of events, from "High Energy Tales" to "Music and Stories" are on the rundown. Most of the sessions are open to both adults and kids, though there is the adults-only "Naughty Tales Under the Stars on the Patio" on Saturday, Sept. 9. And if you're hoping to pick up pointers on your own style of storytelling, and burnish your excite-a-crowd abilities, there shall be workshops, too. Just check out the tickets, prices, times, and locations — the Ojai Art Center and the Libbey Bowl are the two main spots — and see what you're drawn to, in terms of listening and learning. If you've been yearning to get up on a stage to spin out a yarn, or try your hand at a story podcast, let this venerable festival, which is now in its 17th year, be your carry-you-higher wind. For a listing of all of the fabulous tellers, begin your journey here.
