Spring Grove Storytelling Festival returns this month with ‘Sacred Feminine’ theme

The Spring Grove Storytelling Festival is back for a third consecutive year after about a decade and a half hiatus.

This year’s festival will be from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Spring Grove Park, 2102 Main St. There also will be a master class with storyteller Loren Niemi at Spring Grove Elementary School, 2018 Main St., from 9 to 11 a.m.

Jim May, a full-time storyteller and the festival’s artistic director, said the master class serves to educate people and provides an incubator space for storytelling.

May said this year’s master class will feature Niemi sharing stories, providing a lecture and encouraging people to share anecdotes.

Noa Baum, an Israeli-American storyteller, will be sharing her story “A Land Twice Promised” and also will attend the master class.

This year’s lineup includes Beth Horner, Peter Cook, Susan Stone, Jeff Degner, Chris Fascione, Megan Wells, Eleanor Wolfe, Nestor Gomez, Mike Preston, Kory May, Amy Crump, Will Tremont, Noa Baum, Ken Talaga, Aria Wagner, Kristi Huntz, Marie Ringenberg, Gail Permenter, May and Niemi, according to the festival website.

There will be four tents: the main tent, the adult tent, the open mic tent and the Garden of Honor tent, according to the Spring Grove Storytelling Festival website, springgrovestorytelling.org.

Each year, there’s a theme at the Garden of Honor tent. The garden is dedicated to the late Lisa Derman, a Holocaust survivor who died while sharing her story during the 2002 storytelling festival. The themes at the Garden of Honor started when the festival came back from hiatus. The event previously was known as the Illinois Storytelling Festival but was renamed upon its return in 2022.

In 2022, Holocaust survivors shared their stories at the Garden of Honor tent and, in 2023, the theme was “Justice Denied, Justice Restored,” focusing on personal or historical justice stories, May said. This year’s theme is “The Sacred Feminine,” May said. The stories in the Garden of Honor tent will focus on the “sacred feminine in myth and stories,” according to the festival website. May said the idea for this year’s theme came from one of the festival’s board members who works as a midwife.

About 300 people are expected to attend, May said.

In previous years, ghost stories were part of the festival. This year, the Ghost Stories celebration will be held closer to Halloween at Richardson’s Farm, 909 English Prairie Road, Spring Grove. One of the reasons for the move, May said, was “people enjoy ghost stories the most” during Halloween.

Attendees will gather on the evening of Oct. 21, underneath the full moon, for the ghost stories. Tickets for Ghost Stories cost $20 for adults, $15 for those ages 6 to 17, free for those 5 and younger, and $65 for a family package, including admission for two adults and up to three kids.

Admission also includes access to some Richardson’s Adventure Park activities, according to the Ghost Stories ticket page. Tickets for Ghost Stories are available on the Storytelling Festival website.

If you go to the Spring Grove Storytelling Festival

When: Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21

Where: Spring Grove Park, 2102 Main St., Spring Grove. Attendees can park for free at Horse Fair Park, 8105 Blivin St.

Tickets: Free for those 5 and younger, $15 for those ages 6 to 16 and $25 for those 17 and older. There also is a family package for two adults and up to three kids for $70.

Website: springgrovestorytelling.org