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The third annual Big Fish Folklife StoryFest will be broadcasted Sunday, Sept. 6 on WMCO 90.7 from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. This year’s theme is “Light-Hearted Stories from the Inside-Out.”

Founder Prof. Rachel Pollock and managing director Tim Pollock are the event organizers.

The Pollocks created this non-profit organization as a recreation of something that would bring the community together in the same spontaneous feeling and outpouring after the John Glenn High School basketball state championship in 2016.

The BigFish Folklife StoryFest is on WMCO 90.7 Sunday, Sept. 6. Listen from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

“We tagged on to what they [the village] were already doing over Labor Day. Wanting to throw a festival with the same kind of feeling where it would be free, bring all the people together, and bring all the businesses together,” said Rachel.

Rachel studied storytelling and has been to storytelling festivals, including the national festival in Tennessee. With Tim being pastor of Bloomfield United Presbyterian Church, they thought this would be a great way to also incorporate local churches into the event.

“Our goal from the start was to bring storytelling back out to this area and also to bring in a venue so that people who were artists in a small town had a chance to express themselves,” said Rachel.

With recent events because of COVID-19, the Pollocks did not want to cancel this year’s event. They knew that some of the full-time artists couldn’t file for unemployment. When everything shut down, some artists lost their means of supporting themselves.

“These are artists that really need this. They really need to connect with audiences. They all have this gift that really needs to be shared with other people,” said Rachel.

Working together with WMCO radio is the best way to keep the StoryFest vision alive, but also gave them a new perspective on how to come together as a community.

“There’s something special about being very much focused on the storytelling and the music and partnering with broadcasting.  We are going to be focusing more on the artists and the audiences. Less is more,” said Tim.

They are hoping this year’s event is not only a safe way to bring people together but also a way to cheer people up with everything going on in the world. A little less focus on being alone, helping people find a way to be together as a community.

Listen Sunday, Sept. 6 on WMCO 90.7 or the free WMCO app.

BigFish Folklife StoryFest 2020 Schedule 

10:30 a.m. Storytelling Worship Service with Bloomfield United Presbyterian Church and College Drive Presbyterian Church

12 p.m. Local Music Showcase featuring Emily McDermott, Alaina Williams, and Sacred Turtle

1 p.m. “Listen to Your Story” Storytelling Contest Winners – story submission details

2 p.m. Musical Guest Barefoot McCoy

3 p.m. National Storyteller Kim Weitkamp

4 p.m. National Storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin