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Nineteen storytellers from across the United States and beyond will take part in the sixth annual Women’s Storytelling Festival, with virtual and in-person performances scheduled from Thursday, March 20, through Sunday, March 23, 2025.
The festival opens with an online-only showcase at 8 p.m. Thursday. Live performances will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at the Sherwood Community Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd. in Fairfax City, and continue through 5 p.m. Sunday.
All in-person performances will also be livestreamed. Ticket holders will have online access to festival recordings for one month after the event ends.
The festival celebrates live storytelling in its many forms, including personal narratives and folk tales. Herndon storyteller Carol Moore, a returning participant, described the gathering as an escape filled with camaraderie and new experiences.
“There is laughter and joy, discovery and wonder, empathy and healing,” Moore said.
From local shows to a hybrid festival
Jessica Robinson founded Better Said Than Done in May 2011 as a small community business promoting storytelling in Northern Virginia. Its early events included shows at the now-closed Epicure Cafe in Fairfax and fundraisers for Reston’s Walker Nature Center. The group moved its performances to the Auld Shebeen in Fairfax City in 2012.
Better Said Than Done became a nonprofit in 2023. In addition to producing regular shows, it offers storytelling workshops and presentations.
The first Women’s Storytelling Festival took place at Old Town Hall in Fairfax City in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the 2021 festival entirely online. In-person performances returned in 2022, while the virtual option remained.
Robinson said the hybrid format makes the event accessible to storytellers and audience members who cannot travel to Fairfax City. She also said the festival gives prominent performers room to share stories they may not tell elsewhere.
Storytellers coming to Fairfax
Along with Moore, the in-person lineup includes:
- Laura Deal of Boulder, Colorado
- Swapna Deshpande of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Linda Gorham of Cary, North Carolina
- Jennifer Hillery of Reading, Massachusetts
- Tobey Ishii Anderson of Olympia, Washington
- Andrea Kamens of Boston, Massachusetts
- Amanda Lawrence of Blairsville, Georgia
- Miriam Nadel of Vienna
- Ingrid Nixon of Archer Point, Arkansas
- Laura Packer of Wayzata, Minnesota
- Jessica Robinson of Fairfax
- Aimee Snow of Manassas
- Sarah Snyder of Herndon
Thursday’s virtual showcase will feature longtime Disney World actor Karin Amano; Sarah Brady of the United Kingdom; University of Wisconsin assistant professor Sarah Beth Nelson; author and consultant Shani Womack; and Florida storyteller Janel Woodland.
A full virtual festival pass costs $45, while an in-person pass costs $70. One-day passes will be sold at the door for $35 per day.