Ridge City Ramblers perform at the Flatwater Festival in 2017. (Photo courtesy Flatwater Festival)
Reminder: The second Flatwater Festival presented by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge will be held from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, at Melton Lake Park.
And the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, which will feature three world renowned storytellers, has events on Friday and Sunday. It is the first storytelling festival in the Oak Ridge area.
Organizers said the Flatwater Festival on Saturday will include bands, beer, boat races, and bounce houses; wine, water, and soda; and face painting, food vendors, and fun for all, including corn hole games.
New this year is a team-building regatta featuring up to 20 boats. It will be held from 12:30 to 5 p.m. in collaboration with the Oak Ridge Rowing Association. A “build a boat” race by participants who make their own cardboard boats ahead of time will be held at 5 p.m.
In addition, the festival at Melton Lake Park is sandwiched between the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival events on Friday, June 1, at the University of Tennessee Arboretum and Sunday, June 3, at the Oak Ridge Playhouse.
The three-day festival will be a fundraiser for the three Rotary clubs’ community service projects, including four new benches for the Oak Ridge waterfront in 2018, a press release said.
The bands playing will be the Ridge City Ramblers, 101 Degrees in the Shade, Mt. LeConte Jug Band, Jubal with Taylor Kress, Unnamed, Osborne-Krause Duo, and Little Engine.
B&B Barbeque and other food vendors will sell barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and “flat” water will also be sold, the press release said.
A supervised play area with two bounce houses and an obstacle course will entice kids, as will face painting. Cornhole games will be available again this year for kids and adults, the press release said.
To learn about the rules for building cardboard boats, contact Dean Cheatham at dean@cheathamtax.com.
The festival entrance fee is $5 per adult, $2 per child, and $20 for a large family.
For more information on the Flatwater Festival, visit www.flatwaterfestival.com.
The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, which will feature the three world renowned storytellers, is a major addition to the 2018 Flatwater Festival, organizers said. It will be an annual event sponsored by the three Rotary Clubs in Oak Ridge, all volunteers, as part of the Flatwater Festival weekend.
Bil Lepp, Tim Lowry, and Minton Sparks will perform for this inaugural festival. They have achieved national and international recognition and appear regularly at festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the press release said.
As reported earlier, Flatwater Tales kicks off on Friday, June 1, with a three-hour interactive writing workshop, “Create Your Own Story,” with Minton Sparks. The goal is to help participants discover their own stories from their family history and experiences, structure their stories, and share them with others. The workshop is being held in a serene woodland setting at the auditorium in the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. No previous writing or performing experience is needed.
On Sunday, June 3, the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival presents the art and magic of live storytelling with two performances, 2 to 5 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with different stories at each session. Held at the Oak Ridge Playhouse, it is an Oak Ridge 75th Birthday event. Although the stories would be rated PG, since each show is a three-hour performance with two intermissions, it is not suitable for children under 10.
Making a special guest appearance to open the first Flatwater Tales will be Kiran Singh Sirah, president of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Flatwater Tale’s inaugural Community Partner, the Blossom Center for Childhood Excellence.
“The Festivals’ goals are to help bring our community together, introduce people to Oak Ridge, support local economic activity, and raise funds for the clubs’ community projects, “said Emily Jernigan, Flatwater Tales chair and former Breakfast Rotary president. “We expect to grow Flatwater Tales to include local and regional lore, music, and history, and to help share the Oak Ridge story—past, present, and future—with a wider audience. We want to expand our storytelling training to include helping children find their voices using this age-old art form.”
Tickets are now on sale at the Ferrell Shop in Oak Ridge and on the Festival’s Facebook page and website, www.flatwatertales.com. For more information on Flatwater Tales, visit their website or email flatwatertales@gmail.com.
Learn more about the Flatwater Festival weekend in this story.
Visit www.flatwatertales.com for more information about event times for the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, the storytellers, and ticket costs. You can also learn more about the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival in this story.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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