Story People of Clallam County with Field Hall: 27th Annual Forest Storytelling Festival, Friday Morning Segment
Friday, November 6th @ 9AM – 1:30PM
Tickets $30 for this segment | $70 for full festival pass
Click here to see full festival schedule and featured storyteller bios
9 – 10:15a: Concurrent Workshops, Sunset Lounge
• “Pin the Tail on the Narrative, Sort of Lawn Darts meets Eudora Welty,” with Andy Offutt Irwin
This raucous workshop involves the careless dropping of pens* and carefully guided steps for developing personal narratives, freeing participants to delve into the past and chip away at the unmovable stone of self-doubt to reveal the treasure of new stories.
Each participant will be paired with a partner (a stranger is best). They’ll be guided to create a list of roles they have played throughout their life, beginning in childhood, and continuing on through their high school years, work life, social life, family life, etc.
Three of these roles will be randomly and magically selected and paired with three unavoidable life experiences culled from a list of twenty. Things like: Turning Point. Choice. Conflict. Loss. Challenge. Decision…
Three pairs will be whittled down, and the most interesting pair will be picked by their partner.
A story will be developed using the four elements of The Hero’s Journey: Quest. Obstacle. Resolution. New wisdom.
*We will be literally dropping pens, and I don’t toss the word literally around, so the pen you bring to the workshop shouldn’t be your grandfather’s old fountain pen. A Bic® stolen from a motel is preferred.
• “Story Dynamics: Connecting with Your Audience,” with Megan Wells
We can know a story in our bones, AND, the magic of delivering that story to an audience requires an extra layer of skills. In this engaging hands-on workshop, Megan will lead you in exercises that will further amplify your audience impact.
10:30 – 11:45a: Pacific Northwest Guild Tellers Performance, Theater
Representing The South Sound Storytelling Guild of Olympia: Sandra Niman
Sandra Niman has used storytelling to introduce the periodic table, to entertain giraffes and to explore the mysteries of existence. A retired teacher, she has also been a radio host and the director of a certificate in storytelling program. She has lived and traveled to many lands, collecting tales and searching for meaning from the muddle of memory.
Representing the Fireside Storytellers League of Tacoma: Bonnie Anderson
Bonnie has as been telling stories pretty much all her life. She even got a Girl Scout badge for it in Grade school! Her parents watched the TV show “Hee-Haw” … she heard the barber on there tell fractured fairy tales, and decided to tell Rindercella. She was too young to know it should be hard, so she just did it! She’s been telling stories ever since, to all ages, and in all sorts of situations. Her favorite stories are those that make you think, and those that make you smile. And she firmly believes that the connection between storyteller and listener is MAGIC!
Representing the Portland Storytellers Guild: Steven Henegar – Storyteller & Monologist
Mid-westerner Steven Henegar celebrates the wonderful variety of stories we use to share our lives. He calls up the everyday and the fantastic to discover feelings and experiences that connect us all. The veteran performer and workshop leader blends the easy conversation of his family’s storytelling with incisive imagery and word play shaped by a decade in the theater. Truth & Lies mined from a long life looking around
Representing the Victoria Storytelling Guild is Jennifer Ferris
Jennifer Ferris has been telling stories beside the Salish Sea and beyond for 35 years. She has performed in schools, at community events, nature sanctuaries and festivals.She has used story to engage and entertain listeners of all ages. Acutely aware of the power of humour and language, she loves to tell personal stories as well as tales of myth, magic and transformation from around the world.She is as enthusiastic about the work of other storytellers as she is about her own. She gives workshops to adults, children, families, businesses and international students
Representing the Seattle Storytelling Guild: TBD
Representing the Story People of Clallam County: TBD
11:45 – 1:45p: Break for Lunch
Attendees encouraged to pre-order a boxed lunch through the Sunset Lounge at checkout.
12:15 – 1:30p: Story Slam “Light” Open Mic, Sunset Lounge Stage
Teller’s names will be pulled at random for the opportunity to tell a five-minute true, personal story on the theme: “Second Chances”.
27TH ANNUAL FOREST STORYTELLING FESTIVAL | NOVEMBER 5 – 7, 2026
For more information about the Forest Storytelling Festival, please visit: fieldhallevents.org/forest-storytelling-festival
Click here for an all-inclusive festival pass.
Welcome to the Annual Forest Storytelling Festival in Port Angeles, WA! World class storytellers will make you laugh uproariously and will tug at your heartstrings. Everyone — from preteens, grandparents and everybody in between — will find stories of love, comedy and inspiration.
Our storytellers will invite you into the lives of people, fictional and real. These are characters who are, on the inside, just like you. They’re also people from many cultures, coming alive in the voices of tellers from all over the globe.
Enjoy inspiring workshops, entertaining live performances with expert storytellers, networking opportunities, and open “story slam” opportunities for you to share your tales. A full weekend of stories inside the beautiful Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles, Washington.
The Story People of Clallam County is a guild that promotes the art of storytelling. We all have stories to share… come share them with us!
