Gather in the museum’s intimate theater or in an Adirondack-style lodge to experience lake history in song and story at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Storytelling Festival, Saturday October 16. Festival activities take place from noon to 5pm, rain or shine, at the museum’s scenic campus just west of Vergennes on the shore of Lake Champlain.

At noon, Russell Van Dervoort will share family stories from over a century of adventure operating tugboats on the Hudson River, Erie and Champlain Canals. Van Dervoort will also personalize autographed copies of his new book, Canal Canaries and Other Tough Old Birds, recently published by LCMM. At 1:30pm, the student actors of Burlington’s Very Merry Theater will lead theatrical activities, games, and present a performance of The Velveteen Rabbit.

Their presentation is a special occasion at “The Roost,” LCMM’s Adirondack-style lodge that served as a children’s theater for Camp Marbury in the 1920s. At 3:00pm, the traditional musicians of Atlantic Crossing team up with LCMM director Art Cohn to offer original songs and illustrated stories of life on Lake Champlain, interweaving narration, images and music to paint a picture of Lake Champlain and its people. Along the way, Art Cohn shares his personal adventures as a nautical archaeologist and his unique perspective on the lake. The show ends with a brief discussion of the current state of lake resources and the need for conservation.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is open daily from 10-5. Festival admission includes all performances, a day at the museum, a 20% discount at Red Mill Restaurant, and helps preserve Lake Champlain’s history and archaeology. Enjoy over a dozen exhibit buildings, antique boats in the new Hazelett Watercraft Center, and replica historic vessels at North Harbor. Find out more online at www.lcmm.org or call 802 475-2022.