Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
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The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is an annual storytelling event held in Lehi, Utah, on the weekend after Labor Day. The event typically lasts three days and features professional storytellers from across the country. In addition to daytime performances on Friday and Saturday, there are usually themed evening performances such as Look Who's Talking, Bedtime Stories, My Favorite Stories, and Laughin' Night.
In 1989, Karen Jackman Ashton, President of the Friends of the Orem Public Library, wanted to find new ways to get people involved in the library. Ashton had been presenting Storytime for preschoolers and helping with other Children's Library programs. She attended the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and found thousands of adults crowding into tents, listening to dynamic performers relating tales of history, culture, folk, and family life.[1] The entire town of Jonesborough (population of 3,000) had mobilized to accommodate the 10,000+ people who annually attend the three-day festival. The first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival was organized eight months after Ashton identified an idea at a storytelling festival. It was held at the Ashton family property and nearby locations and featured regional storytellers. In its second year, the festival expanded its schedule and venues, added an evening performance at the Scera Theater, introduced school performances, and included nationally recognized storytellers selected alongside regional performers through auditions.[citation needed]