Successful Conclusion to the Second International Storytelling Festival

Successful Conclusion to the Second International Storytelling Festival
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic  4/17/2012

Throughout the 2^nd International Storytelling Festival, more than 30 activities took place in different places, keeping children and adults laughing and smiling all the while. The Festival also served to train teachers, culture disseminators and parents in how to tell stories to their children and the importance of doing so.

Storytellers came from Brazil, the United States, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Uruguay, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. They visited Technology Centers in Villa Altagracia, Haina, Boca Chica, La Victoria and Villa Mella, where they told stories to children and adults.

The Office of the First Lady and the Children´s Library of the Dominican Republic (BIJRD in Spanish) oversaw the formal closing of the second annual International Storytellers Festival, held from Tuesday April 10 to Saturday April 14.

Storytellers came from Brazil, the United States, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Uruguay, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. They visited Technology Centers in Villa Altagracia, Haina, Boca Chica, La Victoria and Villa Mella, where they told stories to children and adults.

Some of the storytellers included Ilan Brenman, Emilie Andrade, Sisa Ruival, Mirtha González, Jorge Antonio García Pérez, Cesar Bejarano, Eric Lynn Baba and Barry Man. From the Dominican Republic were Johnnié Mercedes, Yamilé Scheker, Dulce Elvira de los Santos, Clara Lozano, Ernesto López, Rita de los Santos y Katiuska Báez, were at the Festival all week, making people of all ages laugh. 

In addition to storytelling, these professionals also gave workshop, talks and conferences on how to cultivate a love of reading in young children and the importance of reading stories to children.

Writers also attended the event in the Villa Duarte Library, the Guaricanos Community Library, the Mauricio Báez Cultural Center Library in Villa Juana and the library at Doña Chucha’s Home for Children.

The closing event of the 2^nd International Storytelling Festival, held at the Children´s Library of the Dominican Republic, was attended by young readers and the general public.

Representing the Office of the First Lady was Teresa Peralta, director of the Children´s Library of the Dominican Republic and Dulce Elvira de los Santos, manager of the cultural extension and activities section of the BIJRD.