StoryFest Brings Two Extraordinary Storytellers to the Historic Masonic Theatre
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Clifton Forge, VA (Ict. 18 2026) - Alleghany Highlands StoryFest celebrates the timeless art of storytelling and the special connection created when stories are shared live, in person and with an audience. This year's annual StoryFest at The Historic Masonic Theatre will feature two accomplished storytellers, David Novak and Ilene Evans, on Thursday, October 29, at 7:00 p.m.
The evening will bring together two distinctive voices and storytelling traditions, promising an experience filled with imagination, history, humor and stories that linger long after the evening is over. Alleghany Highlands StoryFest is sponsored by Dominion Energy.
David Novak is an animated and innovative storyteller who has been described as “The Brothers Grimm and Carl Jung meet Monty Python.” A veteran of the National Storytelling Festival, Novak is an internationally touring storyteller and speaker. He was part of the opening team of the Disney Institute, where he served as Director of Story Arts, and was a longtime faculty member of the Storytelling Program at East Tennessee State University.
Novak is a recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award for storytelling and the Aurand Harris Memorial Playwriting Award for excellence in professional theatre for children. He is also an A+ Fellow for the North Carolina Arts Council and a Teaching Artist for the Wolf Trap Institute. Novak lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Joining Novak is Ilene Evans, MA, a director, writer, storyteller, actress, musician, historian and lecturer whose work has taken her throughout the United States and internationally. A Chautauqua scholar, Evans develops first-person historical narratives celebrating Black women who have made significant contributions to America's journey toward freedom.
In 2009, Evans was selected by the United States Embassy to share African American culture and literature in the Middle East and South America. As artistic director of Voices from the Earth, a position she has held since 1998, she has portrayed such notable figures as Harriet Tubman, Ethel Waters, Bessie Coleman, Eslanda Robeson and Elizabeth Catlett. Living at the headwaters of the Potomac River in Preston County, West Virginia, she is also a longtime member of the National Association of Black Storytellers, which she describes as her “second home.”
The combination of Novak's imaginative and unexpected storytelling with Evans' powerful historical narratives promises to make this year's StoryFest a memorable evening.
StoryFest begins at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, October 29, in the John Hillert Auditorium of The Historic Masonic Theatre.
Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the door the evening of StoryFest. No advance ticket purchase is necessary.
Come for the stories and stay for the laughter, history, imagination and connection that only live storytelling can create.
For more information about upcoming events at The Historic Masonic Theatre, please visit www.historicmasonictheatre.com. The Historic Masonic Theatre, Educate. Engage. Entertain.
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