The Ojai Storytelling Festival will be celebrating its 17th year with storytellers from around the world Sept. 7-10 in the Libbey Bowl, 210 S Signal St. Tickets for individual performances and weekend passes are at www.ojaistoryfest.org. Early-bird prices are currently available.

The line-up of storytellers includes Bill Harley, Motoko, Samite, Kim Weitkamp, Antonio Rocha, Dovie Thomason and Niall de Burca.

While storytelling is an ancient art form, the Ojai Storytelling Festival presents the oral tradition in a contemporary way.

“Listeners will definitely hear traditional tales, but many of this year’s tellers will offer a very modern take with stories firmly rooted in today’s culture,” said Festival organizer Brian Bemel.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the program:

Laughing Night featuring comedic tales from all the tellers
Raw Tales features winners of the Los Angeles Moth
From Japan to Brazil features Motoko and Rocha
High Energy Tales with Weitkamp and Burca
Music and Stories with Harley and Samite
Naughty Tales with Burca, Motoko, and Weitkamp
Bodies Unbound, a theater production with Cynthia Waring
Special outreach performances for students
Workshops presented by the featured tellers

One of the most challenging obstacles faced in publicizing the festival each year is overcoming pre-conceptions people have about storytelling. The word itself conjures an image of someone reading a book to a child, but attendees won’t hear any reading at the festival.

The Ojai Storytelling Festival presents the oral tradition in a lively fashion. Some of the stories will be based on folktales while others will be captivating personal narratives.

Each tale will be dramatically told using movement and gesture, and will contain all the elements that are in an engaging play with the main difference being there is a stronger connection between the audience and the performer in storytelling. Theater of the spoken word describes what happens at the festival.

The festival reaches a diverse audience and while there are some performances for children, the majority of programming is geared for adults, especially those scheduled in the evening. Audiences will hear real-life tales of love, hope, courage and wisdom as told by the festival’s spoken-word artists.

While the festival celebrates stories, there will be music and movement to liven the stage as well.

— Brian J Bemel for the Ojai Storytelling Festival.