A group of children are listening intently, captivated by story-teller Kevin Kling.
He’s one of the professional story-tellers on the bill for this year’s Ojai Storytelling Festival, which returns after a two-year pause for the pandemic.
"People think they know what a story-teller is, but they don't," Kling told KCLU.
Kling says the art of story-telling is to find stories that resonate with the audience.
"Most of my stories are family stories and stories from Minnesota, where I come from. I think telling family stories really resonates for people."
Adam Booth is another story-teller on the bill for the festival. He says story-telling is an ancient art which connects us.
“Story telling is a folk art that's persisting, it's never gone away," said Booth.
"There's been something of a resurgence of interest among a larger mass of people in learning to tell stories."
Booth says that "building community” is his favorite part of story-telling. "We just had this experience where we are bonding over a shared story. We were all participating together," he said.
“Everyone says story-telling is just for kids but it’s not", Kara Lakes, who produces the Ojai Storytelling Festival, said.
"We have bunches of kids shows but we also have tons of shows for adults."
The festival has been going since 1999. After two years away for the pandemic, Lakes says the festival is just what’s needed.
“Storytelling is the oldest art form. It's the oldest history lesson - the oldest way of passing down information from generation to generation.
"It's become a healing thing, especially since COVID," said Lakes.
Ojai Storytelling Festival is underway now and runs through Sunday at the Ojai Art center and Libbey Bowl.
