Iowa Storytelling Festival

What started in 1989

The Clear Lake Public Library first sponsored the Iowa Storytelling Festival in 1989. It was intended to be a one-time special event in celebration of the library’s centennial.

Became an Annual Event

The festival was so well received that it became an annual event, and thousands of persons of all ages have enjoyed the festival in the years since. A beautiful lakeside setting draws audiences from Iowa and beyond. The event has hosted many outstanding storytellers and that tradition continues with this year’s featured performers.

A New Page Turns

The Iowa Storytelling Festival continues to evolve! In partnership with the Ventura Public Library, the Meservey Public Library, the Rockwell Public Library, the Swaledale Public Library, and the Thornton Public Library, we aim to bring a bigger, better event. Alongside the storytellers, we will be hosting a local author fair in the Olson Building at the North Iowa Fair.

Photo of a crowd listening to a storyteller under a large tent in the park during the Iowa Storytelling Festival.

Iowa Storytelling Festival 2025!

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An image of the event's poster depicting details for the day.

The Iowa Storytelling Festival is an annual event that occurs at the end of summer reading. This year brings a renewed program in partnership with the Ventura, Meservey, Rockwell, Swaledale, and Thornton Public Libraries. The event includes a local author fair (with Three Bells Books on site to represent Iowa authors who can’t be there), a craft station, and a special interactive storytelling event, all in the Olson Building at the North Iowa Fair!
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Schedule of events:

11:00 am – doors open to public
11:30 am – Eulenspiegel Puppets (In the Mirror)
12:30 am – The Dealt Hand (“What is Here?” Interactive Storytelling)
2:30 pm – Andreas Transo (Stories of a Traveling Musician)

Meet the Storytellers:

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Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company:

Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art of puppetry through high-quality performances, workshops, and creative events. The company is committed to educating the public about the arts, serving as a center for the exchange of ideas, and enhancing the quality of community life.

The Dealt Hand:

An event by The Dealt Hand is focused on creating space – a space that is comfortable and inclusive, and fun – a place to gather to play games and make connections. They remove barriers from play. “What Is Here” is a collaborative storytelling game about building an urban legend. It’s one of the core games used The Dealt Hand’s “Campfire Story Games” program. Here’s an opportunity for YOU to be a part of the storytelling!

Andreas Transo:

Raised in hills of Southwestern Wisconsin on the Wisconsin and Kickapoo rivers, Andreas is the son of a Danish immigrant father from the island of Bornholm and a mother of old American stock, with a good blast of 19th-century Irish mixed in. Songs and stories and social dancing were the norm in his community, and Andreas continues these traditions along with many others taught to him by his family. Andreas’s grandmother, Delores Steele Chamberlain, was an artist and author of River Stories: Growing Up on the Wisconsin, a collection of stories of life raising a young family in a small cabin on the Wisconsin River with Dace Chamberlain, Andreas’s grandfather. At the Iowa Storytelling Festival, Andreas will share stories he has lived as a travelling musician, that he has collected in his studies and time living in England, Ireland, and Denmark, and stories from his family, including from his grandmother’s book.