A brand new South Carolina festival is celebrating the art of mendacity, dishonesty, fabrication and falsehood. But, I promise, if you visit Artworks in Beaufort on March 8-11 you will never have so much fun being lied to.

The Beaufort Intergalactic Storytelling Festival and Liars Competition is a four-day festival of tales, both true and tall. The schedule includes performances by master storytellers, children’s programs, and workshops on becoming a better storyteller and, of course, the Liars Competition.

Although the lowcountry festival’s name conjures up rocket ships, aliens and lasers, the name “intergalactic” might have less to do with the stories’ content than with the “out of this world” line-up of storytellers and performers.

Delores Hydock is an award-winning storyteller whose stories range from medieval adventures to the misadventures of family life. Her energetic wit has been praised by reviewers, one of whom described her work as “smart, but not cynical, heartwarming yet never corny, traditional without being mundane … a neat feat!”

Fusing storytelling with music, Hawk Hurst’s tales inject an element of mystery into our everyday world. To that end he combines stories of modern life with the wisdom of ancient cultures and uses Native American instruments to provide a musical backdrop.

World-renowned folksinger, storyteller and musician John McCutcheon also will perform at the Intergalactic Storytelling Festival as he has at more than a dozen festivals in North America as well as in Australia and Chile. His music, employing traditional folk instruments such as the dulcimer, banjo, fiddle and autoharp, reminds us how folk music and songwriting are really just another way of telling a story.

The Liars Competition Finale on Saturday, March 10, is sure to be a highlight of the weekend. The preliminaries on March 1-2 will whittle out the overly sincere and exceedingly honest, leaving only the masters of prevarication. Judges will grade the liars on delivery and confidence, story development, originality and effectiveness/audience response and will hand out cash awards to the best liars in the bunch.

Although you can buy a la carte tickets to events, which range from $5-17, if you will be attending numerous performances and workshops, consider buying a pass. Single day passes are available and range from $30 for children to $60 for adults. An all-access pass costs $65 for children younger than 12, $110 for students 13-21 and $160 for adults.

Click here for a full schedule and more information.