Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the Whitewater Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Whitewater Area Chamber launched its brand-new Whitewater Storytelling Festival, a celebration of the art of storytelling, October 15-16. This brand-new festival brought to town locally, regionally, and nationally known storytellers and lots of visitors who enjoy a good tale! It was a collaborative event, harnessing the talents, skills, and resources of multiple organizations and individuals in the Whitewater community and the Whitewater Chamber can’t thank those partners enough for their help in bringing this event to our home.
We kicked off the weekend on Friday, October 15th with some campfire stories down by the Cravath
Lakefront fire pit and enjoyed tales from some locals and visitors alike. The evening was beautiful, and
we were blessed with amazing weather as the rains cleared just in time. We saw a steady flow of story
seekers all day on Saturday, October 16th enjoying the sunny skies and many tales of the talented
storytellers. Children took advantage of the crafts and special storytelling sets, and many folks spent
time in one or more of the available workshops. We moved indoors on Saturday night at the Cultural
Arts Center where we saw a standing room only audience enjoy the stories of three most amazing
tellers. Others in town that evening took advantage of an open-mic night at our local bookstore, The
Book Teller.
We were assured by many of our festival visitors, both local and out-of-town, that they will return next
year! We were excited to hear that as we definitely plan to repeat this festival and grow it over the next
three years. We have the distinct privilege of the use of JEM Grant funds awarded by the WI Department of
Tourism and we are excited to look to planning for next year. We are working with other regional
storytelling festivals to ensure that our event is put on the calendar as one not to miss. Our hope is that
this festival becomes something that Whitewater is known for each year!
We would like to extend a very big thank you to our generous event sponsors for supporting the festival,
Novel Sponsors Generac and storytelling patrons Rosa Spellman & family, Chapter Sponsor Lavelle
Industries, and Bookmark Sponsor Fort Community Credit Union.
We look forward seeing everyone at the festival and welcoming new visitors to the community. Be sure to follow the Chamber’s Facebook page for updates on other events that the Chamber is planning! For questions about anything Chamber related please contact Kellie Carper, Exec. Director at (262) 473-4005.
