The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is held annually on the weekend after Labor Day at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. Drawing an audience of thousands each year, it has become the largest storytelling festival in the western United States. For two days and three nights, professional storytellers gather with listeners both young and old for multi-day celebrations of story, music, and merriment. In addition to daytime performances on Friday and Saturday, themed public performances are held each evening.
In addition to the Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Institute offers free lesson plans and stories as part of its “Storytelling in the Classroom” online program for educators and students worldwide.
In 1989, Karen Ashton, President of the Friends of the Orem Public Library, was dreaming of ways to promote community involvement and raise money for a new Children’s Library. When she visited the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee, she found thousands of story lovers crowding into tents, listening to dynamic performers relating tales of history, culture, folk, and family life.
A storytelling festival! The idea for which she had been searching! People could gather together and increase understanding by communicating through stories. The simple, old, community and family values—folks talking with each other and sharing in an active experience—not passive screen entertainment. The first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival debuted just eight months later in the Ashton’s yard.
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival grows each year—both in audience size and prestige. The Festival and its organizers have received national media attention and awards, and storytelling event organizers from around the nation attend the annual Festival to gather information for their own festivals. The Festival has garnered this reputation not only because of the amazing featured tellers, but also because of the scenic setting, the unique audiences, the extraordinary community support, and its excellence in organization.
Today, the Festival draws listeners from across the nation, Canada, and many other countries. Since moving to its new home in the Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in 2017, the Festival has been able to accommodate all Festival events in one location—with plenty of parking, UTA access, and a magnificent Waterfall Amphitheater for evening events.
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