2026 Schedule of Events

8:00 to 9:45 am
Breakfast at Trackside
Trackside at the Depot, 134 East 10th Street, Paris (map)

Start your day off right by enjoying a breakfast at Trackside at the Depot while listening to stories by Mary Hamilton.

Breakfast will be served from 8:00 to 9:00, it will be served cafeteria style with one time through the line for $22.50. At 9:00 the stories will begin.

Tables will be reserved for those eating breakfast only. For those not eating breakfast, a limited number of seats will be available, but you are also free to bring your own chair.

Please call Trackside at (859) 340-3010 for reservations.

IN 2025 CALL
(859) 340-3010
FOR RESERVATIONS

11:30 am to 12:15 pm
Jam Session with Josh Goforth
Paris-Bourbon County Library, 701 High Street, Paris (map)

Our jam session and singalong will once again be lead by Josh Goforth a Grammy Award Nominated multi-instrumentalist. Anyone who plays an instrument, sings or just loves to listen to music is invited.

FREE

12:15 to 1:30 pm
Lunch Break
Enjoy downtown restaurants and shopping

Downtown restaurants include All About Kentucky, Lil’s, Paradise Café, Happy People Coffee, La Esperanza, The Graze, The Market and Trackside

1:30pm to 4:30 pm
Storytelling Showcase
Wallis Arboretum, 616 Pleasant Street, Paris (map)

45 minute stories from 3 tellers. Seating will be available under a tent.

Donald Davis 1:30-2:15

Shelia Arnold 2:20-3:05

Ol’ Bess – 18th-century tavern slave

Ol’ Bess, a slave owned by Mr. Southall, owner of the Raleigh Tavern.  She has a husband and 4 children and shares some of the things happening in the colony in 1774 including the dissolution of the House of Burgesses, the beginning talks of revolution and the tragedies that occurred in Boston Harbor.  She also shares about her life and the ways she has learned to survive as a slave.

Antonio Rocha 3:10-4:25

The Malaga Ship*

The Malaga was a 183 ton brig that was built in Brunswick Maine in 1832, and then used in the illicit trafficking of Africans to the Americas, mainly Brazil. This is a tour de force performance. Using his entire body and voice, Antonio sings, narrates, and mimes his way through this poetically toned historical tale told mostly from the perspective of the ship. The story vividly explores the reality and impact of the slave industry, which was the largest industry in the world in the 1800s. The story also has a deep connection to the performer, for Malaga goes to Rio de Janeiro – Brazil in 1845, where Antonio was raised in a biracial household over a century later.

*This performance is appropriate for audiences 12 years old and older.

FREE

6:00 to 9 pm
An Evening of Dinner & Storytelling
Wallis Arboretum, 616 Pleasant Street, Paris (map)

Enjoy a spectacular evening of dinner and storytelling from all six storytellers under a tent in the backyard of the historic Wallis House. Dinner at 6:00. Advanced tickets required. Tickets are $35 per person or $350 for a reserved table that seats up to 8..