Hampton festival highlights the art of storytelling this weekend

Hampton resident and professional storyteller Janice “Jay” Johnson hopes to reduce division plaguing the country and unite communities through one of humanity’s oldest and most beloved traditions  — storytelling.

Hampton Roads residents can hear several great stories from professional storytellers as part of  “Everybody’s Got a Story: Hampton Storytelling Festival,” a free festival in Hampton taking place Thursday through Sunday.

Johnson and professional storyteller Sheila Arnold first organized Hampton’s Storytelling Festival last year. Johnson said she wanted to do something that “would help people talk to each other” and that she could think of no better vehicle for that than storytelling.

Johnson, 85, said she likes to mostly tell personal narratives — stories about her family and friends or key events from her generation. While she tells different stories depending on the audience, she said this year she will likely tell a story about Bay Shore Beach — a beach that was once a popular destination for Black swimmers and sunbathers and was adjacent to Buckroe Beach, which was whites-only when segregation was in effect.

“Bay Shore was the queen of beaches,” Johnson recalled. “It had everything — bumper cars and Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, a picnic area, a dance hall. It had some of everything. I would walk from my house to Bay Shore Beach at least twice a week.”

Johnson hopes the events encourage people to be more comfortable telling stories about their families, why they came to Hampton, or stories that connect them with others.

“In today’s world, too many people are talking at each other and not to each other,” Johnson said. “So [this event] is not just a nice thing to do, it actually has purpose.”

The weekend of events will feature seven nationally recognized professional storytelling artists telling various stories — from fables and fairy tales to personal stories to historical accounts. Some stories are serious, while others are designed to make people laugh.

“There are all kinds of stories to be told, and so we think it’s pretty fascinating,” Johnson said. “We’re not reading — we are not telling stories from our notes. We are telling stories from our heads and our hearts.”

Storytellers include combat-decorated retired Army paratrooper Ray Christian, actor and playwright Valerie Davis, motivational speaker and workshop facilitator Via Goode, actress and writer Sarah Brady, humorist Andy Offutt Irwin. It will also feature Dylan Pritchett , a Williamsburg native and full-time storyteller who was president of The National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.

Johnson wants to “get closer to the people” by holding storytelling events in numerous locations throughout the city.  This year’s storytelling venues include the Woman’s Club of Hampton, various churches and the Hampton History Museum.

“Hampton has a very rich history as a city, and I think that Hampton has such a diverse population that if people started to tell their own stories, it would really build the richness of the culture,” Johnson said. “So we would really hope that storytelling will become a part of Hampton’s culture by our efforts.”

According to Johnson, last year’s inaugural storytelling event drew a crowd of roughly 300 people, and she hopes for a significantly larger turnout this year.

The storytelling festival kicks off with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Woman’s Club of Hampton and continues with themed performances throughout the weekend. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, attendees can try their hand and storytelling and receive feedback in a story swap at the Hampton Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.

For a full listing of the weekend’s events, visit www.hamptonstorytelling.art.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com