SPIRIT OF OKLAHOMA STORYTELLING FESTIVAL COMING TO STROUD, OK JUNE 3, 2023

Check the Territory Tellers of Oklahoma website for updates on prices, events, and to pre-register! www.territorytellers.com

21 MARCH 2023      *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* UPDATED

STATE GROUP TO HOLD STORYTELLING FESTIVAL ON ROUTE 66 IN STROUD

17TH ANNUAL “SPIRIT OF OKLAHOMA STORYTELLING FESTIVAL” HITS THE ROAD:  STROUD and ROUTE 66 IN 2023.  

Oklahoma’s statewide storytelling organization,  The  Territory  Tellers of Oklahoma,  a  non-profit  501(c)(3) organization,  promoting  the  art  of  storytelling,  announces  that  the  17th  Spirit  of  Oklahoma Storytelling Festival will be in Stroud, Oklahoma,  Saturday, June 3, 2023.   

After zoom-only events for the last year and half there is anticipation for this exciting event. The theme is “ON THE ROAD: STORIES ON ROUTE 66” and performers from across the region.  Featured guest-teller is Rosie Best-Cutrer from Kansas,  (https://www.rosiecutrer.com/). She is a nationally known performer, author, and educator who has shared stories in a host of settings. 

The Stroud event offers the opportunity for storytellers to share, and audiences to hear, a variety of stories against the backdrop of  a  historic  and  classic  highway  filled  with  unique  tales.  Guests and performers are encouraged to be part of the fun of this event by adding a touch of fun with a hat or hairdo (or more) from the long history of the “Mother Road…Route 66.”  A photo booth will be available to create memories of this special journey of stories.

The festival will feature opportunities to hear amateur and professional storytellers sharing in concerts, learning about the art form in  a  variety  of  workshop  sessions,  and  maybe  an opportunity or two for participants to share a tale. 

A PRE-EVENT will be an introduction to storytelling led by nationally known Oklahoma based storyteller and author Fran Stallings (www.franstallings.com). This event will be Friday June 2 at 4 to 5:30 p.m. Cost will be only $10 for this one workshop. A free meet-greet-and story will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. 

The main festival event will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday June 3 with registration, first workshops and concerts begin at 10 a.m.

All events are being held in the educational spaces of Stroud First United Methodist Church at 324 N 2nd Ave, Stroud, OK 74079.  

The cost for the all-day Saturday, June 3, event will be $( coming soon) for adults ($ coming soon -for members of Territory Tellers), and is open to anyone 15 years and over.  Half-day and evening only concert tickets will also be available. Registration and membership options through the Territory Tellers website but onsite registration will be possible. Past festivals have been held in Seminole, Oklahoma City, Guthrie, and other locations with people attending from several states.    

The event features quality storytelling performances, called concerts, fun skill building workshops to find and develop an interest in this ancient and ever new art form. Informal story swaps, mini-concerts and more await. Educators and professional storytellers welcome the continued education the workshops can provide for their storytelling activities.  

Stroud Storytelling Festival 2023 will be 3 June 2023 and marks the seventeenth annual production of this festival. 

Last year, over 20 performing artists presented during a two-day Zoom event with attendance of over 195. People participated from nine states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York and California. 

As one participant commented, about the event: i “A wonderful, heart-warming experience! It was lovely to witness the pleasure that the audience took in the stories, the warmth of the welcome to friends both old and new, and the exceptional quality of the stories and the storytelling. While this is a small festival, it is one of quality and excellence.”

PRE-EVENT WORKSHOP, Friday afternoon, 4:00 to 5:30, "Storytelling 101" with noted storyteller, Fran Stallings (www.franstallings.com)

FEATURED TELLER FOR EVENT

Rosie Best Cutrer, from Kansas, is a well known author and storyteller and she will present a workshop of using stories within the family and will serve as the featured teller in the evening story concert. (www.rosiecutrer.com)

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For questions or more information, contact TerritoryTellers@hotmail.com ;

Website/Registration: Territory Tellers – Oklahoma's Storytelling Organization  www.territorytellers.com 

the Territory Tellers representative in Stroud Marilyn A. Hudson,  at authormarilynahudson@gmail.com.