240th Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival Coming March 17-19
Featuring Andy Offutt Irwin
The 2016 Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival featuring nationally famous Andy Offutt Irwin will be held March 17 – 19 at Berry College. The three day storytelling event will offer four public performances by Irwin as well as regional and local storytellers. In addition, Irwin will perform at several schools in the area.
“We are excited to host Andy Offutt Irwin whose engaging and hilarious performances make him one of the top tellers in the country,” says Terrell Shaw, President of Ridge & Valley Storytelling Guild. “The festival is attracting storytellers and story enthusiasts from across the state and region.”
The featured fibber, Andy Offutt Irwin is a nationally-known storyteller and humorist. Some people have inner-kids. Andy Offutt Irwin has an outer-kid. With a manic Silly Putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, and hilarious stories, he is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. A native of Covington, GA, Andy is a storyteller, humorist, singer, songwriter, musician, whistler, walking menagerie of sound effects and dialects, and so much more; some of his talents are hard to categorize.
“Andy’s animated performances delight and entertain in the best sense of the word, surpassing any zany teller you’ve heard before..” ~ The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
The festival begins on Thursday, March 17 with an opening performance by Andy Offutt Irwin. The concert line-up includes Tracy Walker, winner of the 2016 Big Fibbers Contest and Terrell Shaw president of the Ridge & Valley Storytelling Guild.
Fourteen Big Fibbers from around the country will compete in the 240th Big Fibbers Contest to be held Friday, March 18. Each storyteller will perform a five minute tall tale. The contest will be emceed by Andy Offutt Irwin who will award the new Big Fibber Champion.
A full day of activities is planned for the last day of the festival on Saturday, March 19. Andy Offutt Irwin will facilitate a workshop for storytellers. The workshop will run from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Berry College. Following the workshop is the Debby Brown YoungTales™ Contest at 3:00 p.m. which allows young fibbers an opportunity to share a five minute story to compete for the YoungTales title. Youth fibbers, ages 17 and under may register online to compete at bigfibbers.com.
The festival will conclude Saturday evening with an Andy Offutt Irwin Concert and will include performances from the champion adult and youth fibbers who will retell their winning stories. The concert will be held at 8:00 p.m. on March 19.
Festival event tickets are $25 for a 3-day ticket and $10 for a 1-day pass. Tickets to the Debby Brown YoungTales™ contest are free, but donations at the door will be accepted to help cover event costs. Tickets to the Andy Offutt Irwin workshop is $35. All festival activities and concerts will be held at E.H. Young Theatre at Berry College.
The event is organized by the Ridge & Valley Storytelling Guild. Sponsors include Berry College School of Education, Sarah Hightower Regional Library System, the Northwest Georgia Credit Union, and Greater Rome Convention & Visitors Bureau. If your civic group or business would like help sponsor this event contact the Festival Director at terrellshaw@me.com.
Festival Schedule
*Full Festival, March 17-19 (Does not include Fibber’s Workshop)- $25*
Thursday, March 17
Berry College, E.H. Young Theater (Tentative)
7:00 pm- Opening Concert with Andy Offutt Irwin & 2015 Winner Tracy Walker & Local Tellers- ($10)
Friday, March 18
Berry College, E.H. Young Theater
7:00 pm- 240th Annual Big Fibbers™ Contest (Andy Offutt Irwin Emcee) – ($10)
Saturday, March 19
Berry College, E.H. Young Theater
9:00 am – 11:30 am – Andy Offutt Irwin Storytellers Workshop (Separate charge, $35)
3:00 pm – 2016 Debby Brown YoungTales™ Contest (Andy Offutt Irwin Emcee)- (Donations Accepted)
8:00 pm – 2016 Big Fibbers™ Finale with Andy Offutt Irwin and 2016 Winners- ($10)
Register Now to Tell Your Fib
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About the Author
Our Georgia's Rome tourism team works hard to curate content to help you discover and explore our beautiful town! We want to ensure our content is up-to-date and accurate; so please let us know if we ever overlook an important detail! This post was originally written by Kristi Kent and is updated by staff.
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