Corn Island Storytelling Festival @ 3rd Turn

The Oldham County History Center presents the 50th Corn Island Storytelling Festival. Join us in our Golden Celebration of Kentucky’s storytelling roots at a setting filled with food, friends, and unforgettable tales at the Corn Island Storytelling Festival at 3rd Turn Oldham Gardens – Kentucky’s largest beer garden.
Founded in 1975 by Kentucky author, documentarian and Kentucky poet laureate, Lee Pennington, the Corn Island Storytelling Festival has grown into one of the state’s most beloved gatherings of oral tradition. After decades of captivating audiences, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of a storytelling tradition that continues to honor the power of words, memory, and shared human experience. This year’s golden celebration features 10 fabulous storytellers, each bringing their unique voice and vision to the stage:
FAMILY FUN – NEW in 2025! Petting Zoo from 1pm – 3pm.
Lineup:

1:00 Eddie Price – Little Miss Grubby Toes Children Stories
1:30 Sarah McCartt-Jackson – Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River – Poetry
2:00 Geoff Baggett – Revolutionary War in a Trunk
3:00 Reta Underwood – Painted Turtle Woman
4:00 Bill Samuels, Jr. From Moonshine to Bourbon: A Family Business (MAKER’S MARK)
5:00 Kevin Hardesty Daniel Boone – First Kentuckian
6:00 Eddie Price Widders Landing
GHOST STORIES
7:00 Mary Hamilton – Feeding Nightmares
8:00 Tom Freese – Ghost Stories, Witches & Haunted Battlefields
9:00 Marie Mitchell & Dr. Mason Smith – The Battletown Witch and Other Haunts