Cincinnati Storytelling Festival Taking Place 4/29 & 4/30

Paul Strickland has been a Cincinnati Fringe festival favorite for years, and has traveled with his beloved Trailer Park Trilogy and other storytelling shows to fringe theatre festivals all over North America. He’s also a nationally acclaimed storyteller, and has taken his stories to festivals like the National Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Paris Storytelling Festival and many more. He was recently honored to be the Featured Teller at the Kentucky Storytelling Conference. And, just like in the wildly successful inaugural Cincinnati Storytelling Festival of February 2020, Paul is helping bring some nationally-acclaimed storytelling talent home to Cincinnati in April 2022.

This second annual festival was twice postponed due to COVID-related concerns, but now it is finally time for the Cincinnati Storytelling Festival to, once again, take flight. As a partnership with the Cincinnati Parks Department, this year’s festival will be held entirely outdoors with free admission to all four programs (donations are welcome via our website, or via cash, card or venmo at the festival) in the park outside the Westwood Town Hall.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Sheila Arnold is a Professional Storyteller, Character Interpreter and Teaching Artist. Through her company, History’s Alive!, Sheila has provided storytelling, character interpretation and professional development programs at schools, libraries, professional organizations, museums and churches in 41 states since 2003. Sheila has been a featured Storyteller all across the United States including at the National Storytelling Festival (Jonesborough, TN); Paris Storytelling Festival (Paris, KY); Connecticut Storytelling Festival; Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival and many more. She also has been a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center, Jonesborough, TN. Sheila collaborates with storyteller, Darci Tucker, to produce the Tucker-Arnold Storytelling Concert and Retreat in Williamsburg, VA featuring nationally known Storytellers. She is a graduate of UNC-Charlotte with a B.A. in African-American & African History. http://mssheila.org/

Adam Booth’s original stories blend traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia. As a nationally touring artist his professional telling appearances include premiere storytelling events across the United States, including the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Festival, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, the National Storytelling Conference, the National Academy of Medicine, and as a Spoken Word Resident at the Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada). He is a member of the Recording Academy and his recordings have received a Parents’ Choice Gold Award, two Parents’ Choice Silver Honors, and four Storytelling World Awards and Honors. He is a four-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. Adam is the inaugural Storyteller-In-Residence at Shepherd University. http://www.adam-booth.com/

Paul Strickland has been a Cincinnati Favorite since moving here in October of 2014. Most of Paul’s stories were told to him by his Ain’t True and his Uncle False, who live in Big-Fib Cul-de-sac, a small trailer park just off the coast of Factual in the mythical American south. His hilarious and heart-felt tall tales have won “Best of Fest” over fifteen times at Fringe Festivals in the U.S. and Canada. Strickland has performed at theaters, festivals, comedy clubs, and more, including two prisons, where he was not an inmate at the time. Selections from his show Levels of Difficulty can be heard on XM Sirius radio. www.AintTrue.com

THE SCHEDULE (Subject to Change, please see www.cincystoryfest.com for up-to-date schedule)