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About the Festival

"Once upon a time…" is alive and well at the Weber State University Storytelling Festival, a delightful series of events that you won’t want to miss! The festival itself is held after the last weekend in February, and there is something for everyone: preschoolers to senior citizens, college students to families with children of all ages. The storytellers will capture your hearts and create an unforgettable experience in literacy, culture, and the arts!

 

University Sponsorship

This is one of the very few storytelling festivals in the nation that is university-sponsored, and it has become a treasured annual community happening. During the three-day event in February, the Festival welcomes the best of national storytellers, as well as the best of Utah's storytellers and fresh talent from community schools.

Festival Format

On Festival mornings, a conference format of concurrent sessions allows listeners to select from a variety of storytelling genres and is open to the general public. Field trips are arranged for classes or schools. Afternoon workshops, seminars and story presentations are available. Some of these events are aimed at university students, faculty and staff, but others are open to all. These events meet on the WSU campus. Likewise, outreach story concerts are held at area schools. National storytellers present their superlative tales at events scheduled for each evening of the festival including family-oriented story concerts and a special fund-raising banquet.

Festival Venues

Events are held at a variety of locations throughout the community: Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah, David Eccles Conference Center and Peery's Egyptian Theater, The Children’s Treehouse Museum, local schools and the Weber State University-Main Campus.

Youth Storytellers

This award-winning Festival is nationally recognized for its emphasis on youth storytellers who perform their stories on stage with practicing professionals. Children prepare stories in their schools and are selected by their school districts to participate in the Festival.

Awards

The Festival has been honored with the Utah Association of Teacher Educators’ Distinguished Project Award, as well as a recipient of Weber State University’s Exemplary Collaboration Award, and a Community Service Award from the Utah Association for Gifted Children, and the National Storytelling Network’s Oracle Award.

Festival Organization and Sponsorship

The Festival is managed by a non-profit volunteer organization housed in the University’s Department of Teacher Education. It consists of an executive board and steering committee made up of members of the Ogden community, four local school districts (Davis, Morgan, Ogden, and Weber), and representatives of Weber State University.

The Festival is a project sponsored by the University and the Department of Teacher Education, the participating school districts and generous members of the community making it possible to offer Festival events free of charge (except for the Storytelling Festival Banquet.)

Mission and Goals

The mission of the Weber State University Storytelling Festival is to promote the art of storytelling in Northern Utah.

  1. Provide the opportunity for creative expression, enjoyment and pleasure through storytelling;
  2. Encourage the sharing of community histories, traditions, talents, and ethnic cultures of Utah;
  3. Encourage the participation of diverse cultures in Utah;
  4. Enhance the programs and activities of the University, and participating school districts.

Tickets

Storytelling Festival events are FREE of CHARGE except the Storytelling Festival Dinner on Tuesday evening.

Contact

Weber State University Storytelling Festival
Weber State University
1351 Edvalson St., Dept. 1305
Ogden, UT 84408-1305


Sara Gailey, Festival Chair
saragailey@weber.edu


Nate Bingham, Administrative Specialist
nathanbingham1@weber.edu

Please wear masks while on the WSU campus and be considerate of those around you.