Cave Run
Storytelling Festival
September 25th - 26th
Last Call for Online Pre-Sale Tickets
Online Ticket and Shirt Presales end Saturday, September 19th. Get presale pricing that day at the Arts and Eats Festival. After that, tickets are full price at the gate, and shirts move to the sales tent.
2026 Tellers
April Armstrong
Award-winning storyteller April Armstrong weaves melodies and words for a refreshing and compelling style of storytelling. She tells multi-cultural folktales, including African-American and Latino stories that are fun and interactive. April's stories delight, inform, and inspire audiences of all ages.
April is the recipient of the National Storytellers Networks 2020 J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award for Storytelling as well as the 2015 Bronx BRIO Award for Storytelling. Her cd has won a Parents Choice Award - Silver.
Antonio Rocha
Native-born Brazilian Antonio Rocha came to the US to perform and deepen his mime skills with Mime Master Tony Montanaro. He earned his degree from University of Southern Maine and studied with Master Marcel Marceau. Mr. Rocha's unique and award-winning solo fusion of mime and storytelling with mesmerizing voices and sound effects has been performed from Singapore to South Africa and many places in between, including The National Storytelling Festival, Kennedy Center, and Smithsonian Institution.
He is a proud recipient of the coveted National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Award.
Bil Lepp
Bil Lepp is an award-winning storyteller, author, recording artist, tv and radio host, and contributing newspaper columnist. His 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, presenting universal themes in clever and witty ways. Audiences across the country have been delighted by Bil’s mirthful tales and delightful insights into everyday life.
Josh Goforth
Grammy-nominated artist Josh Goforth grew up in Madison County, North Carolina surrounded by the music and stories of his ancestors. He is a highly accomplished storyteller and old time, bluegrass, and swing musician playing close to 20 instruments. His fiddling was featured in the movie Songcatcher. He has performed internationally and in all 50 states, gracing such stages as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and The Grand Ole Opry.
Kevin Kling
Playwright, actor, author, storyteller and cultural advocate, Kevin Kling is hailed as a Minnesota state treasure. His work is infused with an innate sense of humor and reflects life challenges he has surmounted, including a congenital birth disorder and partial paralysis from a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
He has performed his stories and plays in libraries, school gymnasiums, The Kennedy Center, Off-Broadway, regional theaters, and storytelling festivals around the US and the world. He has been awarded, among others, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Nestor Gomez
Nestor Gomez was born in Guatemala and moved to Chicago in the mid 1980's. He told his first story to help his stuttering at a Chicago Moth Slam. Surprisingly, he won that night and hasn’t stopped sharing stories since, winning numerous other story slams, including the 2022 National Storytelling Network Grand Slam.
Nestor is the creator/producer/curator/host of 80 Minutes Around the World, a show featuring the stories of immigrants, refugees, their descendants, and allies. He has published two collections of stories and has been featured in numerous anthologies.
Sheila Kay Adams
Seventh generation ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams hails from a Western North Carolina mountain community, and delights in passing on the rich musical heritage and stories of her ancestors.
Adams is the author of two award-winning books and recipient of North Carolina's highest award for the arts, the North Carolina Heritage Award, as well as the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award. She has performed across the nation and abroad, including appearances at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
2026 Partners
Outdoor Hospitality Recreation
Sisters of Notre Dame Eastern Kentucky Foundation
US Forest Service
