OGDEN — An annual celebration of storytelling is poised to return this coming week.

The 28th annual Weber State University Storytelling Festival is set to be held Monday through Wednesday on the WSU campus.

Storytelling Festival Chair Sara Gailey told the Standard-Examiner on Friday that the festival will highlight storytellers from near and far.

“We bring in three featured tellers, and they can be national or international tellers — they’re all fantastic,” she said. “They fly in and they’ll perform during our daytime events and our evening events. We also bring in about 60-odd students. They audition in their school districts — local school districts around campus — then those students come in and perform at all of our events. We also bring in regional tellers.”

She added that the sessions are all open to the public and, save for the banquet on Tuesday evening, free as well.

“It’s a family event, so the sessions are catered for everybody, but they’re really fun and entertaining to go to” she said.

According to a press release from WSU, this year’s festivities will bring award-winning storytellers Donna Washington, Carolina Quiroga and Tim Lowry to campus.

“Washington is a storyteller, author and artist-educator who shares a wide variety of stories for all ages,” the release said. “Quiroga is a bilingual storyteller who engages her audience with Latin American folklore and literature. Lowry combines stories from American history with folktales and personal narratives.”

The festival also will highlight the talents of 58 local youth storytellers from elementary to secondary school.

“Our festival is the largest for youth tellers in the nation, which is very unique,” Gailey said, adding that attendees will not be disappointed.

“I’m really excited to see the community come together and enjoy the art of storytelling,” she said. “It really is a neat experience.”

For more information, including a schedule of sessions, visit https://www.weber.edu/storytelling.

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