And so does Japanese-Korean storyteller Alton Chung, who grew up with the stories, superstitions and magic of the Hawaiian Islands.

Both performers are coming to the National Storytelling Festival at Jonesborough, Tennessee, along with cowboy poet Andy Hedges and the internationally known Chirine El Ansary.

Held since 1973 in Tennessee’s oldest incorporated town, the National Storytelling Festival features a three-day celebration expected to draw as many as 11,000 fans of tales, yarns, jokes and ghosts.

The festival attracts school groups and schoolteachers, retirees and world-travelers.

And, yes, while its name says “national,” it’s actually become a bit like an “international” storytelling festival over the past dozen years.

And what a picture-perfect place to be: Jonesborough is the courthouse town of Tennessee’s Washington County, where electricity lines are wired underground, leaving views of the well-painted, antique buildings of the downtown district unobstructed and as pretty as a postcard.

Annually held during the first full weekend of October, the festival runs this year on Oct. 5-6 (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) and Oct. 7 (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).

It’s first-class fun.

Look for storytelling shows held beneath big-top tents, clustered within easy strolling distance of one another.

In all, you’ll find a couple dozen storytellers and musicians, representing oral traditions of various people and places.

This year’s featured tellers also include perennial favorites Donald Davis, Connie Regan-Blake, and Bil Lepp.

Look for the Exchange Place, a concert focusing on new talent; the Swappin’ Ground, where anyone can tell a story; and a Story Slam competition that offers cash prizes.