Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center

Donald Davis 

Mitch Capel 

Handed down from generation to generation, folk tales, fables and stories weave a bright tapestry of words that can transport you to another time and place.

On Saturday, September 27, The Asheville Storytelling Circle and Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center, located in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina, will present the 2nd Annual Blue Ridge StoryFest. Activities for this day of storytelling will include a "story swap" under the lakeside tent, performances by members of with the Asheville Storytelling Circle, and an afternoon storytelling performance by nationally-acclaimed teller Donald Davis. Davis was born in a Southern Appalachian mountain world rich in storytelling.  "I didn't learn stories, I just absorbed them ," he says as he recounts tales and more tales learned from a family of traditional storytellers who have lived on the same Western North Carolina land since 1781.  Davis grew up hearing gentle fairy tales, simple and silly Jack tales, scary mountain lore, ancient Welsh and Scottish folktales, and-most importantly-nourishing true-to-life stories of his own neighbors and kin.

"I could have listened all morning to Donald Davis...his stories often left listeners limp with laughter at the same time they struggled with a lump in the throat."  Wilma Dykeman

"Davis is not simply one of the finest storytellers practicing his craft today, he is also one of the master teachers of other storytellers." Michael Williams

To round out this exciting day of storytelling we will welcome Mitch Capel, a North Carolina son also known as "Gran'daddy Junebug." Capel is a master storyteller who has been described as a "word magician," "a national treasure" and "unexpectedly powerful." He has delighted audiences throughout the United States through his storytelling with his uncanny ability to enthrall listeners with humor, drama and charm, mesmerizing them from rapt silence to laughter to tears.

Both Davis and Capel have been featured tellers at the prestigious National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Capel is co-founder of the National African-American Storytellers' Retreat and has been a featured teller at the National Black Storytelling Conference.

The Storyfest will be a day of family entertainment sure to delight young and old alike!