Write Out Loud Presents 9th Annual TwainFest
Write Out Loud, an organization founded in 2007 with a commitment to inspire, challenge and entertain by reading literature aloud for a live audience, presents the 9th Annual TwainFest to take place from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, August 18 in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. TwainFest is produced by Write Out Loud and sponsored by Fiesta de Reyes in association with Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
TwainFest, now a tradition for many San Diego families, is an all day free festival celebrating Mark Twain and the literature and culture of 19th Century America. There is something for everyone at this festive old-fashioned gathering at the park. Presentations occur at a variety of park venues throughout the day.
Write Out Loud Artistic Director, Veronica Murphy, shared “Each year, Twainfest provides a beautiful day to connect with literature and with people of all ages.
Some of the returning festival favorites include:
- 19th Century stories and poems by Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Eugene Field, Lewis Carroll and many more.
- Giant puppets of Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edgar Allan Poe will wander the green.
- An arcade of unique literary games and activities designed especially for TwainFest will entertain players of all ages on the green. The Election of 1872, Jim Hawkins Treasure Hunt, Wheel of Fiction and The Never-ending Story are just a few activities that join sack races, ring toss and other games of the period to assure a fun-filled yet educational day.
- The Armory Band recreates the only band that played for both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, providing patriot music of the time played on vintage instruments.
- Civil War Field Encampment, complete with soldiers and nurses, provides classes for all ages in fife and drum and artillery.
New To TwainFest for 2018:
- The Twainfest Cakewalk – Walk the circle and land on a 19th Century author. If your author’s name is called – you win the cake.
- Needle In A Haystack (I’m Not An Idiom) – This game involves a big stack of hay with vials filled with idioms – each missing a word or two. Kids hunt for the vials, then open them up and figure out what words are missing with some guidance from Twainfest volunteers.
- Tom Sawyer’s Fence Painting – Tom Sawyer, Aunt Polly and Becky Thatcher seek out children at the park. Working together, they find things to trade with Tom for permission to help him whitewash the fence.
19th Century stories and poems are presented by a cast of character positioned throughout Old Town State Park. Photo courtesy of Ron Logan.
Category: Education, Entertainment, Events, feature, Local News
