ENCINITAS — The Storytellers of San Diego and the Encinitas Branch of the San Diego County Library present the San Diego Storytelling Festival, “Voices at the Water’s Edge” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 26 at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive.
The official kick-off for the festival will be at 10 a.m. with “A Garden of Stories” for general audiences. At the same time, there will be a special storytime for preschoolers with puppets, rhymes and a sing-along in the library children’s room. These shows will be followed by diverse themes of “A Tapestry of Tales,” “Peaceable Kingdom” and “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.”
At 11 a.m., students from Park Dale Lane Elementary School will perform folktales, culminating an arts residency funded in part by a grant from the city of Encinitas and including an “open mic” for any youngsters who have a story to share.
Four male storytellers will put a masculine spin and more than a few surprises on folktales collected by the Brothers Grimm. At 3 p.m., adult-oriented, personal stories from the group “So Say We All” will be followed by an open mic opportunity for adults. The festival will conclude with a concert of stories by several of San Diego’s best tellers. For more information, call the Encinitas Library at (760) 753-7376 or Marilyn McPhie at (858) 484-1325.
Among the featured storytellers at the festival will be Jim Dieckmann, Mary Holma, Aunt Li-Anne, Charles Johnson, Patti Christensen, James Nelson-Lucas, Marilyn McPhie, Leo Baggerly, David Schmidt, Fred Laskowski, Linda Whiteside, Betty Grant, Mindy Donner, Cynthia Griffin, Jessica Baris and Sarah Saulter.
