The 2027 Festival features a fantastic lineup!
Bil Lepp, Paul Strickland, Mo Reynolds, Brian Fox Ellis and Jessica Piscitelli Robinson all-in-one Festival weekend!
The best-of-the-best will again be at the Kansas Storytelling Festival, Downs, KS, on April 23-24, 2027.
2027 PERFORMERS
Bil Lepp
Bil Lepp is an award-winning storyteller, author, and recording artist. He’s the host of the History Channel’s Man Vs History series, the occasional host of NPR’s internationally syndicated Mountain Stage, and a contributing columnist to the West Virginia Gazette-Mail. Bil’s humorous, family friendly tall-tales and stories have earned the appreciation of listeners of all ages and from all walks of life. Though a five time champion of the WV Liars’s Contest, Lepp’s stories often contain morsels of truth which present universal themes in clever and witty ways. Audiences all across the country, from grade schools to corporate execs to the Comedy Central’s Hudson stage, have been delighted by Bil’s mirthful tales and delightful insights into everyday life. Bil’s books and audio collections have won awards including the PEN Steven Kroll Award for Children’s Book Writing, Parents’ Choice Gold awards, and awards from the National Parenting Publications Assoc., and the Public Library Assoc. He is also the recipient of the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest folk honor. “Just as New Jersey has Bruce Springsteen, West Virginia has…Bil Lepp.” – Goldenseal Magazine
Paul Strickland
Paul Strickland is a multi-award-winning professional storyteller, theatre artist, and songster who lives in Kentucky. He has hours and hours of unique, family-friendly stories in his repertoire, including reupholstered folk tales, fairy tales for adults and future adults, tall tales, and even historical stories that just happened to have never happened. www.AintTrue.com
Paul was a Featured Teller: New Voice at the National Storytelling Festival in 2023 and a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024. He was also a Featured Teller at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival and has performed at many other major storytelling festivals.
Collections of Paul’s stories have won Best of Fest honors 20 times at Fringe Theatre Festivals in the U.S. and Canada, and selections from his comedy performance Levels of Difficulty are still played nearly every day on SiriusXM radio.
Paul is also the creator of Tell Stories Better, a practical storytelling resource for writers, speakers, leaders, performers, and everyday humans who want to communicate with more clarity, confidence, humor, and heart. Learn more at www.TellStoriesBetter.com."
Mo Reynolds
Mo Reynolds has tried to like knitting and crocheting but the only weaving she really enjoys has to do with words . Based in Idaho, Mo travels the country weaving personal stories with folk and fairy tales, throwing in a tall tale here and there for good measure. She performed on the National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place stage in 2022 and will be featured at the Stone Soup and Women’s Storytelling Festivals in 2023. Her YouTube channel, Miss Mo Storyteller, is a platform for families and teachers to bring folk and fairy tales into their homes and classrooms. Mo shares stories to foster connection, encourage confidence, and invite compassion. Plus, it is just a whole lotta fun.
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Brian Fox Ellis
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally acclaimed author, storyteller, historian, and naturalist. He has worked with The Denver Museum of Science and Nature, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The Field Museum and dozens of other museums across the country. Fox is a frequent keynote speaker at regional and international conferences including the International Wetlands Conservation Conference, National Science Teachers Association Conference and the North American Prairie Conservation Conference, et al. Fox has hosted, produced, researched and written several documentaries for PBS. He is the author of more than 30 books including three books of poetry, a series of biographies, History in Person, and a series of collections of folklore, Fox Tales Folklore. He has two collections of stories with lesson plans: Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, and Content Area Reading, Writing and Storytelling. Many of his stories are also available on his podcast and Youtube channels, Fox Tales International and History in Person. For the past several years he has been the official Seanachie, Gaelic keeper of lore and historian, for the Peoria Erin Feis. Currently he is the Director of Membership and Outreach for the Illinois Audubon Society, where he edits their quarterly magazine.
Jessica Piscitelli Robinson
Jessica Piscitelli Robinson is the Founding Executive Director of Better Said Than Done, the organization behind the Women’s Storytelling Festival. In addition to producing the WSF and storytelling shows in Northern Virginia and beyond, Jessica has performed at the Exchange Place at National Storytelling Festival, and the Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, on WGBH’s “Stories from the Stage,” and the Risk! Podcast, in 3 National Storytelling Network Conferences and 4 Good Liar’s Club Festivals, and was a featured storyteller in the Florida, Hampton, and Stone Soup Storytelling Festivals. Jessica is a 2023 ORACLE Award recipient from the National Storytelling Network and will be receiving an ORACLE for Distinguished National Service in 2026. Jessica has taught storytelling workshops for Story Crossroads, The Story Center at the MCPL, and for community and business organizations such as The Brookings Institution, George Mason University, George Washington University, and The World Bank. Jessica’s writing has been published in several reviews and anthologies and she is the author of the memoir-in-stories, Stages: My Life in Stories (Tucker DS Press). More at: https://jessicapiscitellirobinson.com/
