World Storytelling Day, as the official website states,  is a global celebration of the art of storytelling. The intention is to have people share stories with family and friends around them. It might be a guild planning a special event to share stories told by its members, or someone sharing personal stories with other members of the family.

Baden Storyteller’s Guild, of which I am a member, has hosted a concert the past few years in The Story Barn in Baden, Ontario, which has been filled to capacity with tellers, their families and friends. This year, however, we decided to take our concert to a larger venue so that more people can enjoy our stories.

Each year World Storytelling Day (WSD) presents a theme. In 2010, the theme was Light and Shadows, the year before that, it was Neighbours. This year, the theme for the day is Water. All of our stories must connect with that theme in some way.

The Baden Storyteller’s Guild, of which I am a member, has planned two events at our WSD events at the new Waterloo RegionMuseum, in Kitchener, Ontario. On Saturday, March 19th at the museum ( 1-4 pm): World Storytelling Day Family Stories and Activities. Stories will be told by members of the storyteller’s guild.

On Sunday, March 20, we host another concert from 2-4 pm. Proceeds from our group events will go to StorySave, a project to record the voices of senior storytellers for future generations. Tickets for the Sunday concert are $10 per person and can be purchased from Mary-Eileen McClear at the Story Barn 519 634-8973. 

Our guild concert is one of a number of events in our area. Saturday afternoon at the museum,  Saturday evening, in Cambridge, Glenna Janzen and Carol Leigh Wehking, tellers from our guild, will host a dinner theatre “Grand Tales” will be told at a Dinner Performance at O’Keefe Cottage Cafe on the Grand at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and include dinner and stories.

Latitudes, a registered organization in Waterloo region dedicated to storytelling, is hosting  Tom Allen  of CBC Radio2 and Lori Gemmel, harpist with the KW Symphony, on Sunday evening, March 20th, at 7:30 pm at Trinity United Church in Kitchener. Tom and Lori will perform two myths: R. Murray Schaefer’s “The Crown of Ariadne” and “The Death of Hercules.” Proceeds from this event  go to the Latitudes Storytelling Festival. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

Come and listen to our stories and consider your own stories on this year of World Storytelling Day events.