News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Storyfest will return to Dogwood Park for its 7th annual event this spring.
The event was held virtually last year.
On May 1, local and world renowned storytellers will be performing to a socially distanced audience. Cookeville Museums Manager Beth Thompson said they open the stage to amateurs to keep the spirit of storytelling alive and a part of the culture.
“Storytelling is the oldest form of history that we have,” Thompson said. “First-hand stories were how so many tales got passed on for generations and generations and generations.”
Thompson said the amateur competition is for cash prizes and gives a chance to hear friends and neighbors share their story. However, Thompson said that anyone who would rather stay in the audience will get plenty of entertainment.
“Everybody knows Peggy Fragopoulos, we call her our Storyfest Ambassador,” Thompson said. “She is going to do some storytelling to start the day and she’s also just put out a new book, so she’ll be talking about that.
Later in the day, Thompson said Andy Offutt Irwin will bring his humorous styles all the way from Georgia to entertain.
“He has some characters inside him that you would not expect,” Thompson said. “He’s very funny, he’s got a rubber band face and we love Andy.”
Thompson said Nashville’s own Minton Sparks will be headlining as well with her own unique storytelling style.
“She travels with an accompanist, his name is John Jackson and he plays some guitar while she does spoken word storytelling. Which is just really cool and fun,” Thompson said. “Her pieces are shorter and she does them kind of in rapid succession and I think that people are going to be very impressed.”
Thompson said that 200 socially distanced seats will be available under the tent, but people are welcome to bring their own seating. Storyfest will be directly behind the Cookeville History Museum in Dogwood Park.
Thompson said Storyfest is from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM and a more detailed schedule will be available online soon. She said that anyone interested in participating in the amateur competition should call the Cookeville Depot Museum to register.
