Tell me a story … one that makes me laugh, or makes me cry, or makes me stop to ponder.

That’s just what will happen today with the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival, which takes place at the Trojan Center Theatre on the Troy University Campus.

Featuring some of the nation’s most renown storytellers, this annual festival brings one of our country’s most unique art forms to Pike County. The craft of storytelling, evolved from the oral histories of generations past, is at once simple and complex. The best storytellers captivate us with their tales of life lived larger than we’d ever imagine, or of thoughtful and poignant memories of shared experiences that resonate through our common humanity. The styles range from decidedly down-home to more urbane, from soft-spoken, like the grand dame Kathryn Tucker Windham or the master Donald Davis, to the boisterous.

Sometimes laced with lessons and sometimes told simply for the sheer joy of telling the tale, the story is in itself an adventure. A writing brought to life through the inflection and the imagination of its teller, and each time it’s told the story is like a gift shared with those who are lucky enough to hear it.

Patrons who have attended previous storytelling festivals are quick to sing the praises of the event, and are often the first ones to snatch up the tickets when they’re offered for sale. Luckily, though, a few tickets remain to today’s event. They’re $10 each, and seats are still available for the morning session, which begins at 9:30 a.m, and the evening session, which begins with a pre-show at 6 p.m.

If you haven’t been yet, what are you waiting for? Bundle up, and head out to the theater. You’ll be glad you did.