Welcome to the Weber State University
Storytelling Festival

We are excited to be celebrating the thirteenth anniversary of Weber State University’s Storytelling Festival.  With this milestone, we welcome the best of national storytellers: a new friend and several favorites that have always left us so enchanted that we had to invite them back.  We also welcome the best of Utah’s storytellers and fresh talent from our local schools.  It is still our mission to honor the art of storytelling as we promote families, the arts, and education.  The dates for the Festival are February 23, 24, and 25, 2009.  This year we will be at David Eccles Conference Center and Perry's Egyption Theater, the Davis Conference Center, The Children's Treehouse Museum and the Weber State University-Main Campus. In its first decade, the Festival has earned a strong national reputation.  We are proud of the recognition the Festival has received.  In 2001, the Festival was given the National Storytelling Network Oracle Award.  WSU presented the Festival with the Exemplary Collaboration Award for 2002.  Most recently, the Festival received a community service award from the Utah Association for Gifted Children.   We are a non-profit volunteer organization consisting of an executive board (4) and steering committee (36) made up of members of the Ogden community, four local school districts (Davis, Morgan, Ogden, and Weber), and representatives of Weber State University.  The purpose of the Weber State University Storytelling Festival is to encourage creativity among the children, youth and adults of Utah.  The goals of the festival are to:  1.  Provide the opportunity for creative expression, enjoyment and pleasure      through storytelling for participating schools and the general public.  2.  Encourage the sharing of community histories, traditions, talents, and the      ethnic cultures that enrich Utah.            Weber State University Story Telling Festival is a project designed to share the art of storytelling with the Northern Utah Community.  Daytime and evening storytelling sessions are presented by professional storytellers as well as local adult and child storytellers.  Our Festival is one of the only ones in the country to provide opportunity for children to be on the stage as storytellers.  Workshops dealing with the art of storytelling will be offered to interested adults as well as junior high and high school students.  School and university students, pre-service and practicing teachers, as well as the general public are invited to attend the events.  Special accommodations are made to encourage families, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and speakers of English as their second language to participate.   During the three-day event, four national storytellers, 30 regional storytellers and 80 students from Davis, Morgan, Ogden and Weber school districts will share their stories.  A conference format of concurrent sessions over a three-day period  allows listeners to select from a variety of storytelling genres.  Field trip times are arranged for classes or schools.  Afternoon workshops on the art of storytelling will be open to ticket holders.  The national storytellers will present their superlative tales at events scheduled for each evening of the festival: Bedtime Stories and Campfire Tales (Monday), the Storytellers Dinner (Tuesday), and the Storyteller Favorites program (Wednesday). For information, questions, or advertising brochures, please feel free to contact Dr. Ann Ellis(office 626-7343 or email: aellis4@weber.edu) or Lynda Goucher 801-626-7640 lgoucher@weber.edu .  The schedule of events, ticket prices, and program information will be routinely updated on our web site (http://community.weber.edu/storytelling/).   This is a delightful, once-a-year event that we hope you will attend.  Teachers, bring your students for a meaningful field trip.  The storytellers will capture their hearts and create an unforgettable experience in literacy, culture, and the arts!