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E-mail This StoryThere were stories about railroading a bill through congress, Olympic sledding in a bathtub and semi-trucks going through living rooms. That was just a few of the topics involved in stories told at the third annual Frisco Storytelling Festival.
Last weekend about 7,000 people attended the festival held at Frisco Square. On Friday hundreds of Frisco school children were bussed to Frisco Square so they could hear stories being told in one of three large tents set up in front of the new city hall.
On Friday and Saturday evenings the storytellers took the stage in the new council chambers to tell their stories. That venue seats about 300 people and people had to be turned away both nights.
All but one of the storytellers this year were new to the festival. Willy Clafin, Carmen Deedy, Rex Ellis, Andy Offutt Irwin and Dovie Thomason performed at the festival for the fist time this year. Bil Lepp was here last year.
The event has grown each year.
Youth services librarian Shelley Holley and one of the festival organizers explained why she thinks storytelling is gaining in popularity. "It has a whole lot to do with people yearning for entertainment that connects us. Storytelling is intimate in the sense that it's not electronically dependent. It's not scripted. It's a response between the teller and the audience. I think there's a part of us that really yearns for connecting with each other in this way that movies and TCV and video games and chatting on a computer doesn't do," she said.
Holley did not know how much the event had brought in for the Frisco Public Library Foundation this year, but last year the festival bought in about $30,000. Sponsors pay for the event so the proceeds can go to the library foundation.
