Storytelling Festival gives Cape economy a boost

Visitors from across the Midwest are helping Cape Girardeau businesses this weekend during the third annual Storytelling Festival.

The event brought thousands of people to the area to see six professional and more than 20 amateur storytellers perform in two tents, one at Main and Merriwether streets and another on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau public relations director Stephanie Lynch estimates out-of-town guests spend about $150 per person per day while visiting here.

That breaks down to an average of $45 for lodging, $35 for food, $15 for gasoline and about $55 in miscellaneous expenses like festival tickets, shopping, snacks and souvenirs.

A total of 635 tickets were sold Friday and Saturday, according to Chuck Martin, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. Not included in the ticket sales total are 2,300 area students who made up the bulk of Friday's festival participants.

By comparison, 525 passes were sold for all three days of the festival last year.

For the first time this year, visitors could buy a one-day ticket at a lower price than a weekend pass.

"We're about to find out if one-day ticket sales will make a change," Martin said earlier Saturday.

The Storytelling Festival attracts a broader audience than many other events held in Cape Girardeau, he said.

"This really is a destination event," Martin said. "We have 16 states represented here. That's just really encouraging to me because those folks who are coming from Michigan and Ohio and Mississippi aren't just spending one night here in Cape, they're spending three."

First-time festival attendee Tom Lonergan saw an advertisement for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, thought it sounded like fun and made the trip here from St. Louis for the weekend.

"The vividness in terms of the stories ... you could really see the whole story," he said.

The secret to telling a good story is to make it believable, said amateur teller Chris Sutton of St. Louis, who told the story of St. Louis in the Civil War in uniform during Saturday's noon "Swapping Ground" session.

"You have to make them think they are right there experiencing it all over again with you," Sutton said.

Storytelling performances continue today from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the Storytelling Festival headquarters at the Convention and Visitors Bureau office, at either tent or online at www.capestorytelling.com.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent addresses:

200 Morgan Oak St., Cape Girardeau

100 Main St., Cape Girardeau, MO

400 Broadway, Suite 100, Cape Girardeau, MO