The Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival
SUNday August 2Nd, 2026
6 - 9 PM
OLD HARDWARE STORE, WMC CAMPUS
Downtown McCarthy, Alaska
One night to compete!
The Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival seeks to catalyze local storytellers and celebrate the art of grassroots storytelling in our community.
evening schedule
6PM - SALMON CHOWDER FUNDRAISER AND KIDS HOUR!
For a $20 donation to the WMC, enjoy a hearty meal of salmon chowder and freshly baked bread. Come in, get your dinner and get settled for what’s next!
We invite MXY/Kennicott kids (under 12) to tell your stories on stage and compete for a prize! Don’t worry - every kid’s considered a winner!
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7PM - COMPETITION BEGINS! Sign up opens at 6:45pm!
Make sure you come early to sign up- there will only be time for less than 10 storytellers in the Family Friendly storytelling hour of the evening. Remember - this is an all-ages audience!
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8PM - “BLUE HOUR”
Can’t tell your story without a bit more mature content? This hour is dedicated to the more dicey stories not suitable for an all-ages audience. Parents- you will be warned before we head into Blue Hour.
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9 PM - Judges Deliberate
Once all storyteller scores have been added, our judges will narrow down the final 3 contestants. Then, it’s up to the audience to decide who’s story is worthy of the cash prize!
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Competition sign up opens at 6:45pm! Competition will start promptly at 7pm. All stories should be under 8 minutes!
$500 Cash Prize for 1st Place!
Guidelines and Judge’s Criteria below.
Prompts and Story Ideas for tall tales competition
You know who tells the best stories? You! Consider joining the storytelling fray. You could win a cash prize or hear your story on our podcast — or just enjoy being part of the action. There’s something exhilarating, enriching, and even therapeutic when you share your story in the company of people who can’t wait to hear it.
Here are a few ideas to get ya’ thinking…
The Classic: We always love hearing your story of arriving in McCarthy. For most of us, our stories of how we made it to the Wrangells and what happened when we got here are abso-freaking-unforgettable…
The Wild: Share your wild story, which may or may not involve the wilderness…
Eros: It may be cold up here, but the audience always warms to tales of love and romance in the Far North…
Pathos: Share your most unnerving, white-knuckle travel adventure…
Logos: Tell a tale of that life-altering situation that shifted and changed your perception of yourself and the world: that moment of personal epiphany…
And The Rest Is History: We love a good historical yarn, local Kennicott-McCarthy history or a chapter from Alaskan days of yore…
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Tall Tales Competition Guidelines
Time Guideline: Stories should be 8 minutes or less. A timekeeper will notify the storyteller at 8 minutes, and then again at 9 minutes. After 8 minutes, storytellers are encouraged to conclude promptly so the festival stays on schedule.
No points lost for exceeding time limit, no disqualification—just a clear expectation.
This event will be open to children. If your story has explicit content (drug or alcohol use, language, sex, etc) please inform WMC Staff so that we can place you further down in the signup sheet for Blue Hour. Additionally, please give a trigger warning before you share so that parents have the opportunity to vacate with their children.
PARENTS- you are responsible for vacating your children from the event during Blue Hour and after a trigger warning.
We do not want to censor stories, however- stories containing content that fall under these categories will not be tolerated: Hate, bigotry and/or discrimination based on gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, political leaning; Sexual harassment and/or misconduct; Nonconsensual acts of any kind.
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Judge’s Criteria
1) Story Structure: Did the story have a compelling and coherent structure or flow? Was it well-paced and easy to follow?
2) Audience rapport: To what extent was the storyteller engaging/entertaining to the audience
3) Narrative Voice/characterization: Did the storyteller stay in character? Did they have a consistent and captivating voice?
4) Originality: Was the story original, surprising, unpredictable? Or was it obvious, boring or cliché?
5) Presentation Skills: Did the storyteller use imaginative techniques, vocals, pacing, dialogue, physicality, or other creative elements to enhance the story? Examples: Effective and engaging use of voice projection, body language, body movement, costumes and other forms of presentation, etc.
Big Thank You to our 2026 Sponsors and supporters
Mike Murphy: Being our amazing MC!
Cynthia Shidner: Helping to organize Kids Hour
The McCarthy Mercantile/General Store: Donating Ice-Cream certificates for the Kids Hour
Our hard-working WMC Summer Staff for hustling to coordinate and put the events together
And of course, big thanks to all the storytellers who participate in the event!
Photo by Dave Sabell - 2021 storytelling at the Old Hardware Store
The Stories We Share
Photo by Dave Sabell
Stories are the soul of our mountain community.
We believe in the power of community and the stories we share stories that hold us together, during times of joy and times of change.
Photo by Dave Sabell - 2021 Tall Tales (Old Hardware Store)
Above: Bill Mann telling his winning story at the Old Hardware Store (2022) Left: Winning storyteller, Madz, on the West Side stage (2022). Photos by Dave Sarbell
Email info@wrangells.org for more information