Berkeley Storytelling Festival 2026 | Berkeley Open Stage

Berkeley Storytelling Festival 2026 | Berkeley Open Stage Community Storytelling Night 📍 Impossible Stage – 2033 University Ave, Berkeley 🗓️ September 19 🕖 8:00–10:00 PM 🎟️ Tickets available below The Berkeley Open Stage is an open and welcoming evening of live storytelling where community members are invited to share true personal stories in front of an engaged audience. Whether participants are first-time storytellers, attendees of the festival workshop, or experienced performers, all are welcome to bring their voices, perspectives, and lived experiences to the stage. Storytellers will share short true stories, approximately five minutes in length, creating an intimate communal gathering centered on listening, creativity, vulnerability, humor, and human connection. The event is designed to encourage participation across backgrounds, generations, and experience levels, making storytelling accessible not only as an art form, but also as a tool for dialogue and community building. Participants from the earlier Storytelling Workshop are especially encouraged to submit their names to perform stories they developed during the session, helping create a supportive pathway from learning to live performance. Additional storytellers from the broader community will also be invited to participate through open sign-ups. Rather than a competition, Berkeley Open Stage emphasizes collaboration, encouragement, and shared experience, creating space for authentic voices and spontaneous moments of connection between storytellers and audience members alike. The event is part of the inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival, an initiative of Diaspora Arts Connection (DAC) and its storytelling program Third Culture Tales, which has produced storytelling events in the Bay Area and beyond centered on migration, identity, belonging, and community narratives. 🎟️ Purchase tickets below to reserve your seat.