Storytelling is alive and well in East Texas. That is the theme of Tellabration! 2005 , an upcoming event in Marshall on November 19.

Tellabration! is an annual worldwide evening of storytelling, created to provide an opportunity for storytelling enthusiasts to be bonded in spirit at the same time and on the same weekend. Tellabration! originator J. G. Pinkerton envisioned this international event as a means of building community support for storytelling. In 1988 the event was launched by the Connecticut Storytelling Center in six locations across the state. A great success, Tellabration! extended to several other states the following year, and then, in 1990, expanded nationwide under the umbrella of the National Storytelling Network (then called NAPPS, and later the National Storytelling Association).

In 1995, for the first time, there was a Tellabration! in Japan, brought there by Japanese storyteller Masako Sueyoshi, who had been a part of Tellabration! when she lived in Connecticut for several years. By 1997, there were Tellabration! events on every continent but Antarctica. For the past few years, Tellabration! has been held on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. Some events, however, may be at an alternate time during the same weekend.