DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709240041

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Teresa Annas 

                                            LENGTH:   33 lines

STORYTELLERS LEND FLAVOR TO ``CELEBRATION''

Master storyteller Doc McConnell, who has been heard on public radio's ``A Prairie Home Companion,'' is among the performers slated to appear in Norfolk on Saturday for ``Appalachian Celebration.''

The free folk arts festival, in association with the Virginia Stage production of ``Appalachian Strings,'' is from noon to 4 p.m. at the Wells Theater - both outdoors along Tazewell Street and inside the downtown Norfolk theater.

Special Order and other bands will perform bluebrass music, and there will be demonstrations of mountain clogging and Appalachian flatfootin'. Traditional quilters and instrument and toy makers also will be demonstrating their crafts.

Amid such festivities, two storytellers are expected to steal the scene. McConnell is a traditional Southern mountain storyteller from Rogersville, Tenn., and a founder of the National Storytelling Association. Folklorist Kathy Coleman of Afton, Va., will engage the crowd with stories from her upbringing in the southern Appalachian mountains.

Barbecue and beverages will be sold, too. The day ends with a Family Day performance at 4 p.m. of ``Appalachian Strings,'' allowing free admission for up to two children with one paying adult. For adults, single tickets are $27 and $32. For more information, call 627-1234. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Storyteller Doc McConnell will be at Saturday's ``Appalachian

Celebration'' folk arts festival in Norfolk.

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