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World renowned storyteller Donald Davis is hosting a Storytelling Workshop in LaGrange this week, according to a press release from the Hills & Dales Estate. Davis has hosted workshops in Ocracoke Island, North Carolina for 25 years, and this is the sixth annual workshop held in LaGrange.

To hear the stories of those who participated in the workshop, two public storytelling concerts will be held this week, both free and open to the public.

The first will be on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Pecan Grove of the Hills & Dales Estate, with the event moving to Hills & Dales Visitor Center if it rains.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

The second free, public event on Friday evening at the LSPA Black Box Theater at 214 Bull Street, which will feature different tellers and stories, will begin at 6 p.m.

The workshops are traditionally sold out, and most often, there is a waiting list full of storytellers who want to come to LaGrange to learn about stories and hone their skills under Davis’ tutelage, according to the release.

Each year, the Azalea Storytelling Committee, along with its parent organization, the Lafayette Society for Performing Arts, and Hills & Dales Estate, welcome participants from as far away as Hawaii and as close as right here in LaGrange, according to the press release.

The weeklong workshop is held at Hills & Dales during the day, with group activities revolving around cultural opportunities available in LaGrange. Past outings have included The Biblical History Museum, the Legacy Museum on Main, trips to the Little White House in Warm Springs and boat rides on West Point Lake with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

Last year’s workshop was a little different due to COVID.  The entire week was spent in the pecan grove at Hills & Dales, with temperatures and oxygen levels checked and masks required each time participants had to be indoors.