By Emily Miller

REXBURG—To celebrate the harvest season, Rexburg Arts has gathered some of the best storytellers around to share their unique approaches to the art of telling a story, through music, art, and writing. 

Harvest: Stories, Songs and Spuds will be held this weekend at the Rexburg Tabernacle at 51 N. Center St., and at the Romance Theater at 2 E. Main St. 

“We say that after potatoes the next best crop to come out of Idaho is its stories,” says Rexburg Cultural Arts Director Jed Platt. “Since we just came off of spud harvest, this is kind of a commemoration, a celebration of our local crop, and so there will be stories, there will be songs and there will be spud activities during the event.”

FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Free “spud activities” will be held at the Tabernacle from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and will include a potato derby, similar to a pinewood derby. Platt says participants will fashion potatoes into a racecars to compete in the derby. 

Potato stamp art will also be offered, along with a free workshop from rock art maker, Patti Rokus. Rokus will share how to tell a story by creating beautiful rock art. Rocks will be provided at the event, or participants can bring their own. Click here for more information.

The Museum of Rexburg will be open during the festival and musicians will perform on the steps of the Tabernacle. Platt says it will be all original music from 12 local artists who will share their songwriting inspiration during their performances.  

Platt says journal prompts will be set out at the Tabernacle, giving community members a chance to share their stories. They’re specifically asking for stories about the Romance Theater, the Tabernacle, and the 1976 Teton Dam Flood. 

These stories are important to the community, Platt says, because “Your story is our story.”

STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS

In addition to Rokus’s rock art storytelling activity, Rexburg Arts has invited storyteller Kim Weitkamp and songwriter Cori Connors to present workshops on their crafts. 

Weitkamp will lead a free matinee for kids in kindergarten through 4th grade, Friday at noon at the Romance Theater. R.S.V.P. to arts@rexburg.org. No tickets are needed.

Weitkamp will also teach a workshop for ages 11 and up entitled “The Color of Genealogy,” Saturday at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 35 N. 1st E. Tickets are $15 and are available at rexburgarts.org/events.

“Kim has been here to Rexburg before,” Platt says. “She is a nationally-recognized storyteller. She has a style that speaks really well to our community, so we are excited to invite her back.”

Fellow songwriter Andy Offutt Irwin has been quoted as saying, “Kim is a master at seamlessly building bridges from story, to song, to story. Like all good storytellers she evokes both laughter and tears, but her impeccable timing, and dead-on anticipation of her listeners’ needs place her at the pinnacle of her craft. Then, she pulls her guitar out and you think, where did that come from, that milk and honey voice?” 

Platt says Weitkamp will offer coaching on how to craft your own story into something you can be proud to share. 

“She focuses a lot on family stories and family history. Harvesting your own family story, digging up the past, if you want to,” Platt says, with a laugh.

After Weitkamp’s workshop, songwriter Cori Connors will lead a workshop at 2 p.m. at the Romance Theater called “Stories and Songs.”

Connors is a world-renowned songwriter and performer who has performed at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe and Britain’s famous Liverpool Cathedral, according to her website. Among others, her songs have been recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Tarja Turunen and Chris LeDoux. 

Platt says this will be a beginning songwriting workshop that will teach the participant how to turn a story into a song. Tickets are $15 and available at https://www.rexburgarts.org/events . 

PERFORMANCES

Each evening of the festival will conclude with a performance by one of the guest artists. 

Weitkamp will take the stage at the Romance Theater Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at https://www.rexburgarts.org/events .

The festival will wrap up Saturday night with a special performance from Connors at 7:30 at the Romance Theater. 

Platt is what you might call a Cori Connors super-fan. She even performed at his wedding.

“That’s how much I love Cori,” he says. “She has deep roots here in Idaho, she’s coming up to sing those stories. They are very relatable for where we live and who we are as a people. She is just a dear. I’ve known her for probably 25 year now. I have not missed a Christmas concert of hers.”

Platt says the performance will be the perfect ending to a celebration of storytelling.

“I think the only thing that would be missing is that we need a fireplace to cozy up to,” he says. “It’s just such a warm, relatable experience with her songwriting.”

Tickets to see Cori Connors in concert are $12 and are available at https://www.rexburgarts.org/events . 

For information on these and other upcoming arts events, visit Rexburg arts at https://www.rexburgarts.org/events. 

See rexburgcommons.com for more local news and events, and check out our community calendar at rexburgcommons.com/calendar .