Ojai to Be Transformed Into a ‘Village of Tales’ for Three Days

Growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, Donald Davis heard stories--Scottish and Welsh folk tales from Grandma Walker, tall tales from Uncle Frank and lots of mountain lore. Now he uses them all, incorporating his own childhood experiences in touchingly told performances around the country that have earned him the title “Appalachian Everyman.”

“I’m really trying to build stories out of things that are so ordinary that when another person hears them, they’ll think of things that have happened to them that they’ve never thought of as worth telling about, and hopefully they’ll go home telling stories too,” said Davis, a retired minister who estimates he does 300 dates a year on the professional storytelling circuit.

Davis is the headliner at “A Village of Tales,” a three-day storytelling festival taking place in Ojai this weekend, presented by the nonprofit organization Performances to Grow On.

In an area otherwise known for a multitude of arts and theater festivals, an event devoted strictly to storytelling is a rarity.

“I’ve been involved with the performing arts and storytelling a long time, and I’ve always had it in the back of my head to do a storytelling festival,” said Performances to Grow On director Brian Bemel, who also puts on the Ventura County Children’s Festival and the multicultural music/dance/performance series Pieces of the World.

He cited his inspiration as the venerable National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tenn., where he served on the board of directors. It has grown from tiny audiences to 10,000 over the past 28 years.

“I’ve seen a renaissance going on in storytelling all over the country, and I wanted to create a festival that allowed people that kind of experience here,” Bemel said.

The festival, said spokesman Dean Zatkowsky, should counter the misconceptions people have about storytelling.

“When you say ‘storytelling,’ the immediate assumption is children’s bedtime stories,” Zatkowsky said. “But we’re presenting some pretty sophisticated storytellers who work along the lines of Will Rogers and Mark Twain, and comment on everything from politics to human nature.

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“Most of them have that timeless viewpoint. It’s that rare kind of entertainment where a family can go and each member be stimulated in different ways.”

The festival will feature 22 events at four venues, and organizers are making efforts to let ticket buyers know which are geared for children and which are not.

Besides Davis, the talent roster includes such disparate stylists as Diane Ferlatte, a potent weaver of Southern and African American folk tales; Celtic harpist and lyric storyteller Patrick Ball; Barbara McBride-Smith, who reinvents Greek myths, Texas-style; Boxtales, a Santa Barbara trio who performs multicultural story-theater; and Voices of Illusion, a high school troupe from Hanford, Calif.

The festival gets underway Friday at 7 p.m. at the Libbey Bowl, with “First Night,” an ensemble storytelling concert featuring all of the performers except Davis.

Saturday is the biggest day, with 14 events. It begins with a storytelling workshop by Claudia Reeder at the Ojai Women’s Club, and a free, open-mike “Storyswap” at the Local Hero Bookshop, where visitors can tell their own stories (with a five-minute time limit). The day continues with such unusually named events as “Magic Journeys” (a leprechaun-filled odyssey for kids) and “Irish Heart” with Ball; “Toga Tales” and “Tall Tales for Little People” with McBride-Smith; and “Red Hot Mamas and Other Sheroes,” McBride-Smith’s duo set with Ferlatte (“about strong women,” Bemel explained).

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Like many of the tellers, the New Orleans-bred Ferlatte--who uses traditional music, folk games and songs to enhance her performances--relies on the listeners for inspiration.

“A lot of things happen in the telling of a story, and what they give me shapes even how I tell it, and what I want to leave them with at that moment in time. That’s what makes it come alive--the connection--and the more I tell it, the more it changes on stage,” Ferlatte said.

At the other end of the spectrum, Boxtales, led by storyteller Michael Katz, merges exotic music, masks and creative movement in “Mytos Y Cuentos,” a piece drawn from an ancient Mayan tale. It’s scheduled at 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

Davis and Ferlatte will appear together at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, then will join all the other artists for a 7:30 p.m. event, “Under the Oaks, Beneath the Stars.”

At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, children are invited to a free Maypole Fest (a dance around the maypole) at the Libbey Bowl bandstand, led by Jaye Hersch, artistic director of the Ojai Shakespeare Society. “Tales for Youngins” follows at 10 a.m., with Davis, Ferlatte, Ball and McBride-Smith.

The festival finale will be “Sacred Tales” at 1 p.m., a session of “spiritual stories” featuring all the tellers, with singing by a Renaissance group, Madrigali.

“That should be a highlight,” Bemel said. “One of the main things that makes a story effective is a sense of place, and there’s something magical about Ojai, with all its natural beauty and ambience. When a story has captured you, you could be among hundreds of people, and it feels like it’s just you and the teller. I think people will leave with stories that touch them in a deep way. I think they will fall in love with storytelling.”

* “A Village of Tales,” Friday-Sunday, downtown Ojai, at four venues: Libbey Bowl, Chaparral Auditorium, Ojai Women’s Club and Local Hero Bookstores. Tickets available at the Libbey Bowl ticket center all weekend, and by phone at (805) 646-8907. Prices vary. Information: (805) 646-8907 and https://www.performingarts.net/ptgo/ojai.html.