“It’s not a lie, it is just a fact I made up that I haven’t verified yet,” says Bil Lepp, internationally-known story teller and humorist.

Kansas storytellers will have the opportunity to embellish their own facts on Saturday, October 12 in Downs.

Tall Tale tellers are holding a preliminary contest to narrow the field to just four contestants for the contest held next spring at the 2014 Kansas Storytelling Festival. 

Saturday’s evening of stories will be at the Railroad Park Depot at starting at 7:30p.m.

Kansas Storytelling Festival coordinator Glennys Doane says “everyone is invited to participate – by telling, or listening, which is  also known as laughing.”

The audience and  judges panel will determine the winning stories.

“Tall Tales begin with very believable events or characters” according to Doane, “and then somehow morph into unbelievable situations without the listener knowing quite when that line is crossed.”

Contestants will have 5-7 minutes to tell their story and convince the listeners it was “almost true.”

For more information about the contest or registering to participate, call Terry Koops, 785-545-8753, or Glennys Doane, 785.454.6648.