MARIPOSA — The 32nd annual Mariposa Storytelling Festival kicks off Friday, March 13 with Mariposa Story Slam!, a local amateur storytelling competition with this year’s theme echoing its Friday the 13th date: “Stranger Than Fiction.”
Story Slam! performances take place in the hall of the Mariposa United Methodist Church, with community members telling a true story from their own experience in five minutes or less to a friendly audience and three judges.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and third place of $100, $75, and $50 will be given.
Pre-register to guarantee one of ten storytelling slots by calling 209-742-2548 or signing up at High Country Health Food Store & Café in downtown Mariposa.
This not to be missed evening includes an intermission with refreshments, and three local children telling their own stories.
The event continues Saturday, March 14th with Featured Storytellers’ Night with Diane Ferlatte, her musician accompanist Erik Pearson on guitar and banjo and Mariposa’s own Storyteller Angela Heiss.
This show will take place at the Parish Hall of St Joseph’s Church in downtown Mariposa.
Diane Ferlatte
Diane is an award-winning, dynamic performer who has captivated audiences across six continents in over 20 countries. She has been researching, collecting and telling stories for over thirty years. While emphasizing the history, struggles and triumphs of the African American experience as well as African & Southern tales, she also loves to tell stories that hold truths touching upon our common humanity, including personal stories as well as many tales from across the globe.
Diane’s awards include a 2008 Grammy nomination and the National Storytelling Network’s Oracle Circle of Excellence Award. the National Association of Black Storyteller’s Zora Neale Hurston Award, California Arts Council’s Highest Ranking, as well as Parents’ Choice, American Library Association, iParenting Media, Storytelling World, & National Parenting Publications Awards for her recordings with her accompanist Erik Pearson on banjo & guitar.
Angela Heiss, winner of Story Slam contests in Mariposa and Sonora, was featured at the Northwest Tall Tale Competition in Medford, Oregon, and performed at the 2017 National Storytelling Network Conference in Kansas City as a storyteller from the Pacific Region.
Both performances begin at 7 pm (doors open at 6:30) in downtown Mariposa, with suggested donations of $3 for Story Slam!, and $10 for Storytellers’ Night.
All proceeds support the Mariposa Community Foundation keeping Storytelling in Mariposa schools and community.
