(Cincinnati, OH) Cincinnati’s favorite storytelling event returns for their sixth annual festival. This November, three nationally recognized storytellers are taking center stage in historic Over-The-Rhine’s Know Theatre. Kevin Kling, Motoko, and Paul Strickland will delight audiences young and old over three days of live storytelling.
Tickets go on sale October 15th. No stories are repeated over the three days of programming, so come to as many as you like and enjoy them all.
The festival’s first events, “Gather Round” and “Twisted Tales,” have sold out the last three years, so it is recommended to secure advance tickets. Friday night’s shows include “Laugh Riot!” a short dinner break, and then the much-anticipated ghost story show “Spooky Stories.” Who says spooky season ends October 31st?
Saturday will include a wide variety of programming, starting with a free show for children and families, and then a guest performance featuring the best of “True Theatre.” “Old Tales Told New” will feature masterful and entertaining reimagining of age-old stories, and the closing show “My Favorite Stories” is sure to delight and entertain.
This year’s featured tellers are both new to the Cincinnati Storytelling Festival, but neither is new to professional storytelling. “Kevin Kling is the first professional storyteller I ever saw, and he remains one of my favorites,” says Artistic Director Paul Strickland. “Kevin combines the highest level of craft with an incredible relatability, and he’s also one of the best joke writers I’ve ever encountered. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share Kevin’s work with Cincinnati audiences.”
Strickland continues, “Motoko is a fantastic teller of fantastical tales, particularly folktales from her native Japan. And while it’s impressive that she appeared on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, I promise you’ll be even more impressed by the brilliant artistry she brings to her performances, from the expressive movement to the delightful quirkiness of the stories themselves.”
Most shows are for adults and children ages thirteen and up, with the exception of the Saturday afternoon show which is specifically for children and families.
FESTIVAL HISTORY
The Cincinnati Storytelling Festival, founded in 2020, is a weekend event featuring professional storytellers from a variety of backgrounds and traditions. The festival brings communities together to enjoy fairy tales, scary stories, laugh-out-loud tales, and everything in between! Over the past five festivals, the Cincinnati Storytelling Festival has brought nationally-recognized storytellers to Cincinnati audiences, including Bil Lepp, Lyn Ford, Sheila Arnold, Adam Booth, Megan Hicks, Antonio Rocha, Andy Offutt-Irwin, and Charlotte Blake Alston.
KEVIN KLING
Kevin is a frequent storyteller at storytelling festivals across the country, as well as an author and a playwright. He has written five books and appears often on PBS and Minnesota Public Radio. Kevin is most proud of his work as a teacher, playwright and performer with Interact Center, a company that creates art in the spirit of radical inclusion. He has written a wide range of plays, including everything from adaptations and original plays for children and families to orchestral commissions. His one person shows Home and Away, 21A, and How How, Why, Why, Why and his full cast plays Lloyd’s Prayer and The Ice Fishing Play have been produced in regional theaters, including The Guthrie, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and more. Awards include the Whiting Award, NEA, McKnight, Bush Fellowship, Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board the A.P. Anderson Award, the VSA Jeahny, the Eric Peterson Award, and two regional Emmys for Kevin Kling: Lost and Found and Art + Medicine: Disability, Culture and Creativity. He graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a BA in Theater in 1979. kevinkling.com
MOTOKO
Recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s 2017 Circle of Excellence Award, Motoko has captivated audiences of all ages since 1993. She brings to life a rich repertoire of Asian folktales, Rakugo and Zen tales, ghost stories, and oral memoirs inspired by her childhood in Osaka and her journey as an immigrant. Motoko has been featured in the National Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Bay Area Storytelling Festival, and the Provincetown Playhouse at NYU. Storytelling has taken her to China, Japan, Senegal, and the U.A.E. She is the author of A Year in Japan: Folktales, Songs and Art for the Classroom. motoko.folktales.net/
PAUL STRICKLAND, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Paul is a professional storyteller and theatre artist who lives in Covington, Kentucky. He performs over 150 shows a year across the U.S. and has well over seven hours of unique family friendly stories in his repertoire, including reupholstered folk tales, fairytales for adults and future adults, tall-tales and even historical stories that just happen to have never happened. Paul has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, and many more major storytelling festivals across the U.S. Cincinnati audiences know and love Paul Strickland for his award-winning performances at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. He runs TellStoriesBetter.com , an online coaching and education business. He is one of the co-founders of the Cincinnati Storytelling Festival. ainttrue.com
SCHEDULE AND INFO
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AND TICKETS
Full Weekend Pass: $72
Thursday Pass: $40
Friday Pass: $40
Saturday Pass: $50
Single Tickets also available ($20 per show)
All prices listed here include ticketing fees.
Advance Tickets go on sale October 15:
https://www.cincystoryfest.com/buy-tickets
Ratings: All shows are recommended ages 13+ unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
“Gather Round” at 7pm (60 min.) $20
“Twisted Tales” at 8:15pm (75 min.) $20
Friday, November 13, 2025
“Laugh Riot!” at 6pm (60 min.) $20
Dinner break from 7-8:30pm
“Spooky Stories” at 8:30pm (75 min.) $20
Saturday, November 14, 2026
Special Family Event – recommended ages 4 and up
“Children’s Stories” at 2pm (45 min.) FREE
Main Events
“True Theatre” at 4:30pm (60 min.) $20
“Old Tales Told New” at 5:45pm (65 min.) $20
Dinner break from 7-8:15pm
“My Favorite Stories” at 8:15pm (90 min.) $20
LOCATION
Know Theatre – in the heart of OTR – 1120 Jackson St. Cincinnati OH 45202
Entrance just off 12th St. on Jackson (between Walnut & Vine)
Box office hours: 11am-5pm Tue-Friday | 513.300.5669
