Morgantown Crankie Festival

Monongalia Arts Center (MAC)
107 High Street, Morgantown, WV

The Morgantown Crankie Festival is a new, community-centered celebration of crankies — handmade scrolling artworks performed live with music, poetry, and story.

A crankie (sometimes called a moving panorama) is a low-tech storytelling form with deep roots in folk traditions around the world. Images are painted, printed, cut, or sewn onto a long scroll and wound between two spools inside a small “theater.” As the performer turns a crank, the images move across the screen, revealing a story over time. Crankies combine visual art, music, and narrative into an intimate, collaborative performance experience.

The Morgantown Crankie Festival celebrates crankies as both an art form and a community practice — where visual artists, musicians, poets, storytellers, and tradition-bearers come together to make something magical with simple materials.

What to Expect

The weekend will feature:

• Multiple public crankie performances

• A mix of locally-made crankies and visiting guest artists

• Interdisciplinary collaborations between musicians and visual storytellers

• Crankie-making workshops and informal gatherings in the MAC maker space

Performances will take place Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon and evening, with additional events leading up to the festival.

A Season of Crankies

Morgantown Crankie Fest isn’t just a weekend — it’s a season of activity designed to build local participation and excitement:

• Crankies at First Friday (April 3, 2026) — An early festival preview at the MAC.

• Literary + Crankie Night (April 9, 2026) — Featuring published authors and artists whose work intersects with visual storytelling and song.

• Community crankie-making sessions — Informal gatherings for artists and curious newcomers to work on their own crankies together.

No prior experience is required to participate. The festival invites anyone interested in folk traditions, storytelling, music, visual art, or community-based creativity to join in.

Featured Artists (Partial List)

Artists joining us include creators from West Virginia and beyond, including performers from Morgantown, Elkins, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Wales. The festival highlights both emerging local artists and established crankie-makers working nationally and internationally.

A full schedule, artist lineup, and ticket information will be announced closer to the festival.

About the Organizer

The Morgantown Crankie Festival is organized by Annick Odom, a Morgantown-based performer, composer, and community artist whose work bridges Appalachian folk traditions, storytelling, and contemporary performance. Annick has participated in crankie and cantastoria events across the United States and internationally, and is committed to building spaces where traditional arts and experimental practices can meet.