Since it was founded in 1984, the Illinois Storytelling Festival has been drawing hundreds of listeners and some of the world`s best storytellers to the town of Spring Grove every summer.
Cousins Bob and Jim May founded the festival, which is scheduled this year for the weekend of July 27-28. Jim, a Woodstock resident and professional storyteller, serves as artistic director for the festival, while Bob, a businessman who lives in Richmond, is its business manager.
It was Jim who became intrigued by storytelling when he attended the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn., in 1979. After that, he started telling stories at Rotary Club and libraries about his family who have lived in Spring Grove since the 1840s, as well as stories about growing up in rural Illinois.
When Bob approached Jim about the possibility of starting a festival as a Chamber of Commerce project in 1984, the Illinois Storytelling Festival was born. About 1,500 people attended that first festival. This month, the Mays are expecting 5,000 enthusiasts.
On Saturday morning, Appalachian storyteller Donald Davis will teach a two-hour master class for anyone interested in storytelling (registration required). The festival is held in the 30-acre Spring Grove Village park on Main Street with three big circus tents set up to house the storytellers and their listeners. At noon on Saturday, there will be an opening ”olio,” that is, a sampling of short stories from each of the featured storytellers. Storytelling continues through the afternoon, for both children and adults, until 5 p.m. After a dinner break, storytelling resumes at 9 p.m. when festivalgoers will walk a winding, candle-lit path through the woods, over a stream and into a meadow where there will be ghost stories told by the light of the moon until midnight.
Sunday morning opens with spirtual stories at 10 a.m. and continues until 5 p.m.
”It`s something you`ll never forget. it`s simple and human but very rich,” Jim May said.
The featured storytellers at this year`s festival include Milbre Burch, a teller of folk tales and original monologs; Donald Davis, an Appalachian storyteller who presents tales handed down from his ancestors; Janice Harrington, who weaves African-American tales; Susan Jackson, a teller who signs her stories, illuminating the deaf experience; Bob Sanders, a musician who tells stories ranging from traditional to literary to personal
experiences, and Barbara McBride-Smith, who tells Greek myths from the perspective of a West Texas cowgirl.
For more information about the festival, call 815-648-2039.
