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National Storytelling Festival History: From Hay Bales to a National Stage
From Hay Bales to a National Stage: The History of America’s Storytelling Weekend
How a small gathering in Jonesborough, Tennessee, helped revive the art of telling stories aloud
Every October, listeners gather in Jonesborough, Tennessee, for a weekend built around one of humanity’s oldest arts: telling a story to a live audience. Today’s National Storytelling Festival is an internationally recognized celebration, but its beginnings were strikingly modest. What started in 1973 as a small Appalachian event grew into a cultural institution and helped spark a wider revival of oral storytelling in the United States.
A Big Idea in a Small Town
The festival was founded in 1973 by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school journalism teacher who believed that traditional storytelling deserved a public stage. Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee, set in the Appalachian region, offered a fitting home. Its first gathering was informal and community-centered, with listeners assembling around storytellers rather than watching a heavily produced show. That simplicity became part of the event’s identity: the spoken word, the teller and the audience were enough.
Helping Oral Storytelling Find Its Voice Again
The timing mattered. During the 1970s, renewed interest in folk traditions, regional culture and live performance created fertile ground for a storytelling revival. The Jonesborough event gave traditional tellers, folklorists and emerging performers a place to meet an audience. As attendance increased, the festival expanded from its local roots into a national showcase, while keeping the intimacy of a shared tale at its center.
From Gathering to Institution
Over the decades, the weekend developed into a three-day program held during the first full weekend of October. Large tents across downtown Jonesborough became its signature venues, allowing several performances to run while preserving the feeling of a close-knit listening circle. The program broadened to include folktales, family stories, humor, history, music and ghost stories, with voices drawn from many cultures and storytelling traditions.
A Lasting Legacy
The organization behind the festival eventually became the International Storytelling Center, extending the mission beyond one weekend through performances, education and cultural programs. More than half a century after the first event, the festival remains a flagship gathering for oral storytelling. Its influence can be seen in storytelling guilds, school programs, festivals and live events across the country.
Why the Weekend Still Matters
Technology has transformed how stories travel, but the festival’s central experience has barely changed: one person speaks, others listen, and a temporary community forms around the tale. That continuity is the weekend’s greatest achievement. The National Storytelling Festival has not merely preserved an old art form; it has shown that oral storytelling can remain immediate, adaptable and essential in modern life.
Until Next Time,
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