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 - announces the 9th Annual TwainFest to take place on Saturday, August 18th from 11am - 4:30pm in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, San Diego. 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. We really love that families can come and spend a day away from their electronic devices to have a more tactile experience engaging with the literature and culture of 19th century."

Returning Festival Favorites:

• Local San Diego performers present 19th Century stories and poems by Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Eugene Field, Lewis Carroll and many more, at venues throughout the park.
• Descendants of Early San Diego provide stories of historic figures from 19th Century San Diego.
• 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 Authors Salon provides the opportunity to meet Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman and other beloved writers of the period.
• 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.
• For those who want to dress up in period attire there's a 19th Century Literary Costume Contest.
• A backdrop of 19th Century music enlivens the day's activities.
• Free books are provided at the Book Emporium to all who participate in 5 or more activities.

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!

Cast Includes: Kylie Acuna, Hailey Andrews, Melissa Baldwin, Rhianna Basore, Lawrence Brown, Susan Clausen, David Cohen, Victor Contreras, Giovanni Cozic, Grace Delaney, Melissa Fernandes, Monique Gaffney, John Garcia, Will Harris, Katrina Heil, Grace Howard, Ralph Johnson, Steven Lone, Paul Maley, Betty Matthews, Eric Minella, Albert Park, Jim Pascarella, Charles Peters, Brian Rickel, Walter Ritter, Saroya Rowley, Sandra Ruiz, Steve Smith, Eric Tauber, Connie Terwilliger and Tim West.

Musicians include: Mark Danisovzsky, Danny Barber, Leland Collins, Jason Weiss

In addition to Twainfest, Write Out Loud provides the community six core programs serving over 18,000 people annually. Programs include a six show season of Story Concerts, Stories for Seniors, StoryBox Theatre (kamishibai) for elementary students, NEA BIG READ - Read Imagine Create for teens, Poetry Out Loud and Ripples From Walden Pond, a one-man play for high school students.

Photo Credit Ron Logan

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