Make Way for FROGS

Don’t FROGET!     The St. Marys Storytelling “Frog Festival” is coming June 5th & 6th 2009!   

 

Make way for FROGS!  Frog stories, frog songs, frog masks, frog games, and hopefully some real frogs, too!  Come to the Flats the first Friday and Saturday in June for the sixth annual St. Marys Storytelling Festival.

The St. Marys Storytelling festival, “Once Upon a Thames” has changed dates this year, moving from September to the first weekend in June.  This is the same weekend as the Garden Fair, but held at different times. Two evening storytelling and music concerts will be offered in a big tent at Milt Dunnell Field on the Flats.  The family concert will be held on Friday evening, June 5, from 7 to 9pm, and the adult storytelling and music concert is on Saturday evening, June 6, from 8 to 10pm.  The Saturday concert, which will include the Michael “Earnie” Taylor Orchestra from Stratford, is suitable for ages 10 and up. Admission to these evening events and the “frog festival” on Saturday afternoon is by donation.

 

Frog stories can be found in almost every culture in the world!  We will hear frog folktales, our favourite froggie songs, and two very different versions of the classic tale, The Frog Prince.  On Saturday afternoon from 2:00 to 4:30 visitors can hear ongoing storytelling in the large tent, tell their own tales at a story swap, sign up for a session in the environmental tent to learn more about real frogs, and participate in frog crafts and games. 

 

Alan Shain and Kim Kilpatrick from Ottawa will be offering a special program on Friday, June 5, called “Kissing that Frog: dismantling the disability myth”.  

 

Also on Friday, June 5, classes in grades K through 3 will be visiting the festival to hear stories and to learn about frogs from environmental educator Cobi Sauder. Admission on Schools Day is $2 per student, and space must be reserved.

 

Author Aubrey Davis will be telling stories at the library at 11:00 on Saturday morning and two storytellers will drum and tell their tales at the farmers’ market that day.

 

Bob Barton, author of 11 storytelling and story books, and internationally known for his work in storytelling and education, will be presenting the workshop, “How do I tell This Story?” at St. James Anglican Church on the morning of June 6.  Registration is $35. 

 

To learn about school visits, workshop registration, festival sponsorship, and general information, including who our invited storytellers are, please contact events@stmarysstorytelling.org or call Nancy Vermond at 519-284-2698.

 

 

Highlights of the

5th Annual St. Marys "Once Upon a Thames" Storytelling Festival

 

Our 5th annual festival turned out to be the best yet, with positive comments from storytellers and listeners alike. What started out as an idea - bilingual storytelling- quickly became a reality thanks to support from the Ministry of Tourism's Celebrate Ontario funding. This grant allowed us to invite some of the best storytellers in North America - some that travel all over the world telling their stories - to come to St. Marys for the weekend.

       

Antonio Rocha (Irene Miller Photo)                                                 Adwoa & Fule Badoe ( Irene Miller Photo)

left to right: Charly Chiarelli, Marta Singh, Marylyn Peringer, Stephanie Beneteau, La'Ron Williams, Yusuke Tanaka

 

 

 

 

 

"Once Upon a Thames" is a 3 day festival devoted to the art of oral storytelling that is held on the banks of the Thames River in downtown St. Marys, Ontario. The festival is produced by St. Marys Storytelling Inc., a not for profit organization devoted to reviving the art of storytelling both in our community and beyond.

Thanks to funding from the Ministry of Tourism, we are proud to present the special theme "Many Voices - One World" for our 5th Anniversary. Focusing on multi-lingual telling, the story is told in English with pieces of the teller's native tongue woven in.

We have an impressive line-up of tellers that represent many cultures. Audiences will remember Antonio Rocha from our 2005 festival. A native of Brazil, Antonio blends mime and storytelling in his unique style. Another favourite is Adwoa Badoe, originally from Ghana. who incorporates music, rhythm, and dancing into her performance. An audience favourite from our Winter Performance Series, Charly Chiarelli will once again energize the Stonetown with stories and music from his Sicilian heritage..

For more detailed information on our invited tellers and musicians, please click here

 

St. Marys Storytelling Inc. gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Tourism's Celebrate Ontario Fund.