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Frequently Asked Questions

Ticketing

Tickets are available for purchase in our webstore or by calling us at (800) 952-8392.

Pre-Registration ends Friday, September 27. Walk-in Registration begins Thursday, October 3rd at 8:30 am at the Jonesborough Visitors Center. 

To obtain your Festival, Yarnspinners’ Party, Ghost Story or After Hours tickets, please bring your confirmation receipt or ID to Festival Registration located in the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 117 Boone Street, Jonesborough, TN 37659. Registration hours are: 

  • Thursday, October 3, 8:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. 
  • Friday, October 4, 8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. 
  • Saturday, October 5, 8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. 
  • Sunday, October 6, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 

All tickets will be given to the person who purchased the tickets unless other arrangements have been made. We are not able to hold tickets for part of a group. If members of your group are traveling separately, you may want to designate a place and time to meet in Jonesborough. 

Tickets to the Pre-Festival concerts on Wednesday and Thursday nights will be picked up at the Library Tent venue starting 90 minutes before the beginning of the concert.  

Tickets to any performances that are held in the theater at the International Storytelling Center will be picked up there at the front desk on the day of the show. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each performance. All performances are general seating.  

Workshop participants will report to the International Storytelling Center on the day of the workshop starting 30 minutes before the beginning of the workshop.  

All ticket sales are final. If you are unable to attend the Festival, you may make a written request to transfer your 2024 Festival ticket to the 2025 Festival. Transfers are one-time only and must be made prior to the ticket date. Alternatively, you can convert your ticket into a tax–deductible donation to the National Storytelling Festival for the amount of your ticket, if it is done in the same year in which you purchased your ticket. Individual concert tickets are not eligible for transfer. 

Requests for changes in the number of days you plan to attend or the kind of ticket you purchased may be made when you arrive at Festival Registration at the Jonesborough Visitors Center.   

A Festival ticket provides entry to concerts in multiple tent venues on Friday and Saturday from 10 am until 10 pm and on Sunday from 10 am until 4 pm. Ghost Stories, After Hours, Thursday Workshops and events that happen in a theater require a separate ticket. NOTE: Events that require a separate ticket may occur at the same time as programming in the tents.

We offer the following kinds of group tickets:

· Adult groups

· College groups

· School groups for grades 3-12 on Friday of the Festival

You must have 10 or more people in your group to qualify for group tickets. Each kind of group ticket has its own guidelines and prices. You can learn more and register for group tickets by calling (800) 952-8392 x283 or by emailing customerservice@storytellingcenter.net. The deadline for registering a group for the 2024 National Storytelling Festival is Friday, September 21. Group registrations cannot be purchased online.

Plan Your Trip

The Tri-Cities Regional Airport is located less than 20 miles from Jonesborough. Carriers include Allegiant, Delta Connection, and US Airways Express. The McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee is located roughly 100 miles from Jonesborough. The Asheville Regional Airport in Asheville, North Carolina is located about 75 miles south of Jonesborough.

Jonesborough is easy to reach by car. From Interstates 81 and 26, Jonesborough is located along U.S. Highway 11 E. It is 15 minutes southwest of Johnson City, 25 minutes northeast of Greenville, and 90 minutes east of Knoxville, Tennessee.

A list of area hotels and motels is available on the Plan Your Trip page along with a list of campsites. Book early.

October weather in East Tennessee is hard to predict. Temperatures can range from 55-85 degrees during the day and 35-55 degrees at night. Since fall weather is so variable, please check the forecast before coming to Jonesborough. We suggest dressing in layers and bringing rain gear. Regular programming is inside tents, which provides light protection from the elements. The event will continue rain or shine!

Please remember that your pet is not allowed on the Festival grounds. Call (800)952-8293 or email customerservice@storytellingcenter.net to receive a list of pet boarding locations near Jonesborough.

Beginning Friday, you may park your vehicle at Jonesborough Elementary School located at 306 Forest Drive. Enter the parking area from US Highway 11-E and ride a shuttle to the Jonesborough Visitors Center, where Festival Registration is located. The school is located 0.8 miles from Festival Registration. The shuttle runs to the Jonesborough Visitors Center beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The shuttle makes a continuous loop during Festival programming and ends after the last performance each day. The fee to park is $5 per car and proceeds benefit the David Crockett Band Boosters and the Jonesborough Elementary PTA. The shuttle is $1 per person each way (ages 5 and under ride free). View a map of the Festival grounds. 

A few parking spaces are available on Festival grounds for people with limited mobility who carry valid disabled parking credentials on their vehicle. Maps that show this parking are available at the Visitors Center or by viewing the map of the Festival grounds here. Parking spaces are first come first served. If parking in town cannot be found, the driver can drop off their passengers at the Jonesborough Visitors Center, drive to the school, and ride the shuttle back. The Jonesborough Elementary School is 0.8 miles from the Jonesborough Visitors Center. Limited golf cart shuttle service will be available during the Festival.  

Etiquette, Rules, and Regulations

You may save one seat for your companion. Between performances, please don’t save groups of seats by placing items on them. Tent monitors will clear items from chairs between performances. 

Pets are not allowed on the Festival grounds with the exception of service dogs trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Under the guidelines of the ADA, the work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals.

Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on Festival grounds except in the Wine and Beer Garden located on the ISC plaza where they are available for purchase from 4-8 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Photography for personal use is permitted in performance tents, if no flash is used and taking the photograph does not distract or interfere with the storyteller’s performance. Please refrain from standing while taking pictures during a performance. Audio recordings and videotaping are strictly prohibited in performance tents except by authorized media representatives. 

Please be sure all mobile phones and electronic devices are silenced while performances are underway.

Accessibility

A few parking spaces are available on Festival grounds for people with limited mobility who carry valid disabled parking credentials on their vehicle.  Maps that show this parking are available at the Visitors Center or by viewing the map of the Festival grounds here. Parking spaces are first come first served. If parking in town cannot be found, the driver can drop off their passengers at the Jonesborough Visitors Center, drive to the school and ride the shuttle back. The Jonesborough Elementary School is 0.8 miles from the Jonesborough Visitors Center. Limited golf cart shuttle service will be available during the Festival. 

The Medicine Shoppe at 1238 E Jackson Blvd, Jonesborough, TN 37659

423-753-2441

Yes! Nationally certified interpreters will interpret throughout the Festival weekend. For more information, call our offices at 800-952-8392.

At the Festival

The National Storytelling Festival features five large circus-style tents scattered throughout downtown Jonesborough. When you pick up your ticket at registration, you will be given a Festival program which will include the daily schedule and a map of the Festival grounds. Performance periods run simultaneously throughout the day, so you can should refer to the schedule to determine which performances they want to see. The tents are all located within walking distance of each other. There is general admission seating in each tent, so please sit where you like.

The Festival also features a handful of separately ticketed events, including Ghost Stories (Friday and Saturday night) and After Hours.

Regular Festival programming is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Daytime sessions are one hour long, with 30-minute breaks between sessions. You can choose to stay in one tent for the day or move around according to who you wish to see perform. 

The tent schedule for tellers will be posted on our website about two weeks before the beginning of the Festival. It can also be found in your program when you pick up your tickets.

Ghost Stories under the stars are a special Festival tradition. These separately ticketed concerts are held on Friday and Saturday evening from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. These programs are outdoors with ground seating only. We suggest you wear warm clothing and bring blankets or chairs. Please note that Ghost Story concerts require a separate ticket and will take place rain or shine. Tickets are $10 each.

After Hours is a late-night storytelling concert for adults. Since the concert will include adult themes, we do not sell children’s tickets for this event. It begins at 10:00 p.m. and runs for about 90 minutes.  Please note that After Hours requires a separate ticket. Tickets are $20 each.

The on-site food court offers a selection of foods (including vegetarian items).  Food court hours are 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Public restrooms are located in the Storytelling Center, the Visitors Center, and between the Courthouse and Creekside tents. Portable restrooms are located throughout Festival grounds. Many of these locations can accommodate wheelchairs.

The Festival Marketplace and the International Storytelling Center Gift Shop are the official sites for a wide variety of teller merch, educational resources, souvenirs, and storytelling books. The hours for the Festival Marketplace are Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday – 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Gift Shop hours are Thursday – Saturday – 8:30 am to 8:00 pm and Sunday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm.

Miscellaneous

Graduate or undergraduate credit for attending the festival may be arranged through East Tennessee State University’s Storytelling Program in the Communication and Performance Department. For more information, contact Storytelling Program Coordinator Nancy Donoval at (423) 439-7863 or Donoval@etsu.edu.

You can apply here.

We do not have vendors at the National Storytelling Center, with the exception of a handful of food vendors. For more information, contact customerservice@storytellingcenter.net.

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