Tellabration! Liars Contest – Free Admission

Free night of tall tales in Floyd! Eight storytellers compete to tell the biggest whopper and dethrone our two-time champ.

Date and time
Saturday, November 21, 2026, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Location
The June Bug Center for Arts & Education, 251 Parkway Ln S, Floyd, VA 24091

Ticket
General Admission, Free. RSVPs help us plan seating.

Description

Who will dethrone the champ?

For two years running, the same storyteller has taken first place at the Tellabration! Liars Contest. This year, eight challengers take the stage to knock him off his throne, and you get a front-row seat.

A liars contest isn’t about catching anybody in a lie. It’s about who can tell the best tall tale. The best ones start out sounding perfectly reasonable, then get bigger and wilder by the minute, until the whole room is laughing at how far the teller took it.

What to expect

• Eight storytellers, each with six minutes to tell their biggest, most outlandish tale, told without notes
• Three Floyd County judges scoring technique, story development, originality, and how well each story works as a tall tale
• Your laughter counts! Audience reaction is part of the judging
• Cash prizes of $100, $50, and $25, plus the Golden Shovel Award for the tellers who dig the deepest and pile it highest
• Family-friendly stories, suitable for all ages

Make an evening of it. Floyd is known for its music, arts, local food and wine, and hospitality. Come early, have dinner in town, then come let our tellers stretch the truth.

Want to compete instead? Contestant registration is separate. It costs $10, every dollar supports The June Bug Center, and it’s limited to eight tellers. Register by Sunday, Nov. 15: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998068115520

The Liars Contest is a Let Me Tell Ya! Storytelling Event produced by Storytelling Connections, LLC and presented with Blue Ridge Story Space. Sponsors are The June Bug Center, Sounds of the Mountains Storytelling Festival, the Virginia Storytelling Alliance (VASA), and Brogan Insurance. The contest is part of Tellabration!™, a worldwide celebration of storytelling organized by the National Storytelling Network.