StoryFest 2024
Discover, Connect, Create: StoryFest 2024
The Morgantown Public Library System is proud to present StoryFest — a day of non-stop fun for people of all ages! Join us on Saturday, April 13th from 11:00am-4:00pm at the Spruce Street Pavilion (located at 400 Spruce Street) and the Morgantown Public Library. This new downtown event is a festival celebrating storytelling in all its forms. Kids, teens, and adults are sure to find something to love at StoryFest!
For children, we will have play areas filled with Legos and games, free crafting stations, a chance to meet Miss West Virginia and have a tea party with her, lightsaber demonstrations by The Outer Rim Praxeum, cartoonist workshop and dance with Umbrella Arts, and lots more special guests and fun!
For the grown ups, there will be amazing creators selling their work including local authors Michael Strayer, Linda Gribko, Ashley Belote, Patricia Harman, and local artists Liz Pavlovic and Angela Awesome Pants. There will also be free crafting areas including a D&D minis painting station, free tarot card readings, fun entertainment, free temporary tattoos, delicious carnival style food from Mag & Pops food truck, neat library merch, and more!
StoryFest by the Morgantown Public Library System is a Main Street Morgantown Affiliate event.
Event Overview
Date: Saturday, April 13th
Time: 11:00am-4:00pm
Location: Spruce Street Pavilion (400 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV 26505) & the Morgantown Public Library
Admission: Free
Mark your calendars for this free, one-of-a-kind event that promises something for everyone in the family. Whether you’re a bookworm, an art enthusiast, or simply looking for a fun day out, StoryFest welcomes you with open arms. Bring your friends, bring your family, and join us as we celebrate the magic of storytelling together!
Special Guests & Activities
One of the highlights of StoryFest is the opportunity to meet special guests, including Miss West Virginia! Join us for a royal tea party and story time with Miss West Virginia herself, and immerse yourself in tales fit for royalty. It’s an experience you won’t want to miss!
Some of our other exciting guests include The Outer Rim Praxeum who will show off their thrilling lightsaber dueling skills and Umbrella Arts who will lead us all in fun dance and art classes — no matter your interests, there’s something for you to enjoy at StoryFest.
But that’s not all – StoryFest offers a variety of experiences to delight and inspire. From tarot card readings to book signings, art exhibitions to story time, there’s something exciting happening around every corner.
Main Stage Schedule
Don’t miss out on a moment of the fun, check out the main stage schedule below:
11:00am: Welcome Everyone!
11:15am: Good Morning and Move with Umbrella Arts
Umbrella Arts will lead everyone in a group stretch to wake up our bodies and brains for a day of fun.
11:30am: Fireman Storytime with Andy Dotson
Firefighter Andy Dotson will take the stage to teach everyone about being a firefighter and we will enjoy a cool firefighter story time.
12:30pm: Jedi Storytime and Lightsaber demonstration by Outer Rim Praxeum
1:30pm: Drawing Workshop
Join Artist Rob Summers from Umbrella Arts for a drawing workshop. Can’t make it to this time slot? Catch Rob inside the library where he will be having drop-in classes all day!
2:00pm: Miss West Virginia Royal Storytime
Miss West Virginia can’t wait to read stories to everyone at StoryFest! Meet us at the mainstage for a few stories and then follow her in a royal procession across the street for a fun tea party and craft.
Miss West Virginia: Karrington Childress
A native of Charles Town, West Virginia, Karrington Childress is honored to represent the Mountain State while advocating for literacy on behalf of children in West Virginia. Karrington is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at Shepherd University, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in Education and become a Literacy Specialist. Because of her passion for reading, Karrington is dedicating her year of service as Miss West Virginia to promote reading among school age children across the Mountain State. To get children excited about reading, she created “Karrington’s Kidz Readers are Leaders” Book Club where she hosts a weekly Sunday evening story hour. Over the last three years she has read over 175 books in over 2,000 hours of stories on Facebook Live and YouTube.
The Outer Rim Praxeum
The Outer Rim Praxeum Lightsaber School practices a performance martial art based on our interpretation of the seven lightsaber forms of the Star Wars universe. We teach our students to create movie-like duels that appear to be choreographed, but are actually competitive and almost wholly improvised. Founded in Fairmont in 2015, we have since attracted an expanding fan base and appeared at over 100 events in West Virginia and beyond! We are a not-for-profit organization and strive for positive engagement with our fans and community through fundraisers, children’s events, and other worthy causes. We collect financial donations for the WVU Children’s Hospital through giveaways and good-natured Light Side vs. Dark Side competitions.
Umbrella Arts
Umbrella Arts is a performing, literary and visual arts education facility. The curriculum includes a range of artistic learning opportunities such as visual arts, music, acting, stagecraft, voice, creative writing and continues to expand! Umbrella Arts provides elevated instruction experiences in a non-competitive, conservatory-style environment with pre-professional and recreational development programs. Umbrella Arts training encourages self-confidence while cultivating and inspiring mental and physical health in young artists and experienced artists in the West Virginia community. Everyone is welcome under the Umbrella! Artistic Director & Dance Educator Angela Dennis, artist Rob Summers, and poet Sam Stebbins will be at StoryFest.
Authors & Artists
We have a fantastic line-up of local authors and artists who will have their works available for sale during StoryFest.
Pascha Adamo
Pascha Adamo began writing to fill a need for her family and found she was filling a need for all families. After looking for children’s books featuring interracial families (like her own) with a biracial female protagonist, she was at a loss, especially for children ages 0-5. So Pascha set out to write stories which were a loose reflection of her growing family and, thus, CeCe & Roxy Books was born. CeCe & Roxy Books shares the story of a Roxy, a dog fostered by CeCe’s family, and their adventures together. Pascha has published two award-winning books, sold out of her first, and is working on three more! You can follow the journey of CeCe & Roxy Books on Instagram or Facebook under CeCe and Roxy Books or on their website, paschadamo.square.site.
Angela Awesome Pants
Angela Awesome Pants is the maker of not pants but ceramic friends, pottery, art prints, and so much more.
Ashley Belote
Ashley Belote is a native of the mountain state from Terra Alta, WV. She is the illustrator of Frankenslime and Valenslime by Joy Keller, and the author/illustrator of The Me Tree, A Partridge in the We Tree, Listen Up, Louella, Witch & Wombat, and Don’t Wash Winston. She earned a BA from Alderson Broaddus University and an MA in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky. She has a background in traditional animation under the direction of Don Bluth, and her graduate study included a children’s literature and illustration course, The Whole Book Approach, through Simmons College at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Her upcoming picture book, Sheepwrecked, will be released on July 9th, 2024 from Random House Children’s Books. Ashley is represented by Moe Ferrara of BookEnds Literary Agency. To see her work, please visit AshleyBelote.com.
Kimberly Fowler
Kimberly Fowler, Laura Fowler Gibson, and Carol Fowler Sliker created the book The Only Egg Nest. It was written by Laura with illustrations by her mother, Carol, and graphics by her sister, Kimberly.
Linda Gribko
Linda S. Gribko is an artist, author, naturalist, gardener, family historian, and photographer. Check out her website for more information.
Patricia Harman
Patricia Harman is the author of The Midwife of Hope River, The Blue Cotton Gown, and Arms Wide Open, memoirs about her years in the field of midwifery. For more about Patricia, go to her website.
Liz Pavlovic
Liz Pavlovic (Keep On Creepin’ On) is a Morgantown-based artist + designer whose art celebrates the special things about WV and Appalachia, from Mothman to morels. They create and sell stickers, enamel pins, shirts, cards, and more as well as collaborating with local businesses on unique merch.
Andrew Rorabaugh (Populore Publishing)
Andrew Rorabaugh is production lead at Populore Publishing Company in Morgantown, which provides professional publishing services for authors who want to self-publish books, either for public or private audiences. As part of the company’s “publishing services team” for nearly ten years, he provides design and editorial assistance for a variety of book projects—family histories, memoirs, nonfiction, novels, poetry, children’s books, etc. For more about Populore, visit www.populore.com.
Danner Seyffer Sprague
Raised in rural Ohio, Danner found a love for the outdoors (and the creepy crawlies that inhabit it) at an early age. His illustration work seeks to blend his cute, lovable style with the strange, beautiful world of Appalachian myth and legend. Under the guise of the Cryptid Scouts, he creates a variety of folklore/cryptid-themed products, from handmade wooden jewelry/pins to stickers and postcards.
Michael Strayer
Michael Strayer is the author of two Cryptid themed children’s books Mothman Learns The ABC’s and Curious Creatures: The Vegetable Man, he has released a book with his cryptid themed comedy podcast Mothboys called “The White Monsters Of Sherman, New York”, and has also released a fanzine on West Virginia Paranormal author and investigator Gray Barker. Michael is from Western New York originally but lives in Morgantown, West Virginia now. When Michael isn’t podcasting or writing he works as a mentor with West Virginia youth and loves taking his family on adventures!
Family-Friendly Fun
At StoryFest, we know that creativity is boundless and that storytelling in all its forms is a joy meant to be shared. That’s why we’ll have a wide range of crafts and activities for the whole family to enjoy. Whether you’re creating masterpieces at our free crafting areas, watching unique performances, or simply soaking in the lively atmosphere, there’s endless fun to be had for everyone.
If you are a part of our Reading Dragons & Friends program, you can pick up your exclusive card family at StoryFest!
Conclusion
We can’t wait to celebrate everything the library has to offer with you at StoryFest 2024!
At this event, we encourage you to dress up as your favorite character from any book or show, eat funnel cake, get a temporary tattoo, have a tea party, play games with your friends, discover your new favorite author, connect with cool people in your community, and create some art of your own! Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 13th, gather your friends & family, and join us for a fun-filled day.
For more information and updates, follow us on social media and check out our website. See you at StoryFest!
StoryFest by the Morgantown Public Library System is a Main Street Morgantown Affiliate event.
