FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Karen Beasley, Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
PHONE: 256.350.3500 / 800.648.5381
EMAIL: karen@northalabama.org
Stories Come to Life at the Athens Storytelling Festival
Decatur, Ala. (August 15, 2025) – Some of the nation’s most highly acclaimed storytellers, award-winning liars and world-class musicians will make their way to North Alabama at the end of October to celebrate the art of storytelling during a multi-day festival. Now in its nineteenth year, the Athens Storytelling Festival returns to campus of Athens State University Oct. 21-25, 2025, bringing with it stories of life, legends, lies and excitement.
The Athens Storytelling Festival kicks off on Tuesday evening, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. with a Student Tellers Exhibition where representatives from area city and county schools compete on stage for braggin’ rights and the opportunity to take the stage again Thursday night. Admission is free. All festival tellers take the stage Thursday, Oct. 23 beginning at 7 p.m. for an Olio and joining them will be student tellers with winning performances from Tuesday evening.
Slated to appear on Friday and Saturday are four performers from the inaugural year 19 years ago: Andy Offutt Irwin, Carmen Deedy, Bil Lepp and Donald Davis.
Irwin is a recipient of the 2013 National Storytelling Network’s Oracle Circle of Excellence Award and a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival nine times. He also works as an arts educator, keynote speaker, theatre director, songwriter, comedian, newspaper columnist, camp counselor, and Shakespearian actor.
Lepp is a nationally renowned storyteller, award-winning author and five time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest.
An award-winning author and storyteller, Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the National Book Festival, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues.
Davis, author of 18 books and more than 40 original recordings, is the recipient of both the Circle of Excellence and the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Storytelling Network.
Stories will be told under the big tent on the campus of Athens State University by Sandridge Student Center, located at 300 N. Beaty Street, five blocks from downtown Athens. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. with ghost stories by Athens State University Student Tellers from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. In addition, food vendors, food trucks, local restaurants and an eclectic mix of shops offering a wide variety of antiques, gifts, gourmet foods, clothing and hardware will be open just a short walk from the festivities.
Ticket price for admission to all events are $95/adult and $49.50/child (13 years and older). Admission is free for children ages three to 12 years old (no babies under two years old). Tickets for any combination of events or daily admission are also available and may be purchased here. All ticket holders must stop by the Gift Shop inside the Sandridge Hall Student Center to pick up their swatches which will allow them entrance to the tent during their ticketed times. The Ticket Office opens one hour prior to festival events.
For complete ticket pricing, a biography on each storyteller and a schedule of events, visit www.athensstorytellingfestival.com.
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About Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA)
AMLA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the $4.9 billion North Alabama travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the state. It is supported by 500-plus members consisting of chambers of commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, campgrounds, festivals, communities, golf courses, restaurants, accommodations and vendors. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston. Additional information on North Alabama destinations, accommodations and special events is available by calling 800.648.5381, by visiting www.NorthAlabama.org and by following us on social media @VisitNorthAL.
