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The We Piddle Around Theater in Brundidge was packed Friday night for a one-night Pike Piddlers Storytelling concert, rather than the usual weekend event.

Donald Davis, the Dean of Storytelling, was the lone teller at the festival that had, for 14 years, featured four nationally acclaimed storytellers. But, due to unforeseen circumstances, the line-up had been reduced to one teller thanks to the support and generosity of Donald Davis.

Among, the audience were two couples from Illinois who have been making the trek to the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival for 11 years.

“David and I had been going to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, but some friends in Birmingham told us about the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival,” Carolyn Martin said. “So, we decided to come to Alabama. Our friends, Rob and Gail Thomas came with us and we’ve been coming every year since. Our friends from Minneapolis have flown down to the festival, twice already.”

Martin said there was never any question about coming from Illinois to Alabama for a one-night storytelling concert.

“I love Donald Davis,” she said. “Who doesn’t? At Jonesborough, I would go from tent to tent to hear him. The Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival is different from other storytelling events.  The theater in Brundidge is unique; there’s no place like it. It’s intimate. Being there is like you are sitting around the table with family, listening to stories being told. We love the small-town atmosphere. We just love being here.”

Martin said the theater in Troy is the best venue for storytelling ever.

“David, Rob, Gail and I go to storytelling events all across the country,” she said. “This festival has atmosphere, four of the best storytellers in the country and the music is great. How could we not come, if just for one night? God willing, we’ll be back next year.”

The Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival will be back the last weekend in January 2023. The next planned event at the We Piddle Around Theater is a new play titled “Well, It’s All Over Town!” set in small town Alabama during the Great Depression.

The Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival was sponsored in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.