Before there were written words, published books and digital sentences, there were stories.
Storytelling is one of he oldest forms on communication — a method of passing on heritage and culture, a way to connect to fellow human beings. As American writer Muriel Rukeyser noted, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms."
That is the tradition celebrated at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, now in its 21st year. The second-largest storytelling event in the country, it takes place Sept. 2-4 at Mount Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon, with satellite events at the SCERA Shell in Orem and at the Orem Public Library.
The festival will feature 13 professional storytellers; folk music performances; puppet, juggling and mime performances; one-on-one pottery instruction by local artist Dennis Zupan; workshops on storytelling; special evening performances, including a late-night program of scary stories; and more.
The 2010 storyteller lineup includes Bil Lepp, Elizabeth Ellis, Eshu Bumpus, Lyn Ford, Dolores Hydock, Andy Offut Irwin, Motoko, Jennifer Munro, Debi Richan, Antonio Sacre, Ed Stivender, Tim Tingle and Kim Weitkamp.
Prefestival workshops will be "Fast on Your Feet: Improvisations" by Ed Stivender, "Collecting Stories: The Power of Preserving" by Tim Tingle; "Everyone's Got One" by Kim Weitkamp; and "Bodystories: Mime and Movement for Storytellers" by Motoko.
This year's festival will also be accompanied by the first Timpanogos Storytelling Quilt Shop Hop. From Aug. 30 to Sept. 1, quilters may visit eight participating Utah Valley quilting stories to receive a block pattern and a chapter from featured festival performer Debi Richan's tale, "Beauty in the World." The completed quilt tells the whole story, which Richan will show at the festival as she tells the story. For a list of participating stores, visit www.timpfest.org.
Also hosted by Timpanogos Storytelling during festival week, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Todd J. Barber will give a special program about the solar system and the Cassini spacecraft, an unmanned mission that has surveyed Saturn's moons. The free lecture will take place at the Orem Library on Sept. 1, 7 p.m.
The Timpanogos Story Festival was started in 1989, when Karen Ashton, president of the Friends of the Orem Public Library, was looking for ways to promote community involvement with the library. She heard of a National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and decided to visit it. There, instead of finding old ladies telling stories to children in the library, as she expected, she found thousands of adults listening to stories of history, culture, folk life and magic. She brought the idea back to Orem, and the Timpanogos Festival was launched.
Weekend passes range in price from $25 for children, $40 for adults and $120 for a family of six; daytime-only tickets are $15-$20; evening-only tickets are $8; prefestival workshops are $45.
For a complete schedule of events, more information about the festival and ticket purchase, visit the festival's website.
e-mail: carma@desnews.com