The Spoken Word Stage is a 2-day performance tent at the 4th Street Festival,
featuring poetry, fiction, and storytelling performers from Bloomington and all over
Indiana, from high school teens to tenured IU faculty. There is also a smaller Poetry On
Demand tent, where festival-goers can request a poem crafted specially for them.

SATURDAY Sep 2
10:30 Shana Ritter (poetry)
11:00 5 Women Poets (poetry)
11:30 Merry MAC Players (theatre)
12:00 Merry MAC cont’d
12:30 Butch D’Ambrisio (sonnets)
1:00 Alex Hollett (poetry)
1:30 Abegunde (poetry)
2:00 Matt Hart (poetry)
2:30 Wil Gibson (poetry)
3:00 PrideSlam Showcase (poetry)
3:30 Bloomington High School South Poetry Out Loud (poetry)
4:00 Fig Tree Fellowship Radio Players (audio theatre)
4:30 Fig Tree cont’d
5:00 Steve Henn (poetry)
5:30 Shakespeare’s Monkey (poetry band)

SUNDAY Sep 3
10:00 Tony Brewer (poetry)
10:30 Eric Rensberger (poetry)
11:00 Joan Hawkins (fiction)
11:30 New Leaf New Life volunteers (poetry and fiction)
12:00 Adam Henze (poetry)
12:30 Shayne Laughter (fiction)
1:00 Jack Ramey (poetry)
1:30 Jasper Wirtshafter (poetry)
2:00 Wil Gibson (poetry)
2:30 Arbutus Cunningham (storytelling)
3:00 Cricket’s Bone Caravan (audio theatre)
3:30 James Dorr (horror fiction)
4:00 Lisa Kwong (poetry/personal essay)
4:30 Bloomington Storytellers Guild (storytelling)

With the power of his words, Dylan changed the rock world. When he “went electric” in 1965, there was a powerful new voice that freed the minds of rock and rollers everywhere. Michael Schulbaum brings those words to life in this incredible concert celebrating Dylan’s unique legacy.

With world class talent, One Pulse’s concerts pay homage to the greatest cultural icons of the 20th and 21st century. Based in Bloomington Indiana, One Pulse is a nationally touring entertainment company that focuses on providing the best talent for any event: theaters, festivals, corporate events, and private functions. Where there is a stage, One Pulse Entertainment will make the music of the past and present come alive in every performance.

“CanJoe” John VanArsdall, a longtime fiddler, has been making canjoes, a one-string instrument with a can (yes, like a soda or beer car) for more than 20 years. VanArsdall began making the unique instrument as a hobby in the early 1990s with his friend, Herschel Brown, who believes himself to be the inventor of the device.

VanArsdall played the canjoe for his wife, who was sick with an incurable cancer. She gave him the nickname CanJoe John. “Every time I played that instrument for Sissy it never failed, she smiled; even when it was the worst conditions a human body could go through,” VanArsdall said. “Before she left this world I told her two things. I said I may never make it to the Grand Ole Opry on the fiddle but I’m going to do it with the canjoe and I’m going to put smiles on the faces of those that deserve to smile.”
This documentary explores the history of the instrument and VanArsdall’s journey to the Grand Ole Opry.