Storyteller Antonio Sacré & Festival Director Kara Martin Lakes

The Ojai Storytellers Festival takes place October 26-29 with a full lineup of events from the nation's top practitioners of this ancient art form. We are joined by Kara, the festival's executive director and Antonio, one of the key storytellers. Kara gives us the rundown on how the festival works, its place in our community and how it is integrated with local schools, and also, new this year, a Story Slam in which six local spoken word poets will compete. Antonio talks about his upbringing in Miami and Boston as the son of a Cuban father and an Irish mother, and how those cultures, both renowned for their storytelling prowess, influences his own career. He talks about starting in public schools as an unpaid full-time puppeteer and theater director, then gradually building up his repertoire of fascinating stories from his colorful childhood, and becoming an actor, writer, and working the storytelling festival with the legends of the form. Among the stories he shared are how his dad considered him the "9th best storyteller in the family." We did not talk about trout fishing with tenkara rods, heli-skiing or the textile industry in Nímes, France. For more about the Storytelling Festival, and this year's schedule, check out OjaiStoryFest.org