Inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival Establishes a New Berkeley Tradition with Run of Sold Out Shows

Three-day celebration brought together local voices, internationally recognized artists, first-time storytellers, musicians, and audiences at Impossible Stage

BERKELEY, CA, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Diaspora Arts Connection and Third Culture Tales are pleased to announce the successful completion of the inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival, held September 18–20, 2026, at Impossible Stage in downtown Berkeley. Every event presented during the three-day festival sold out, filling the intimate venue with audiences eager to experience personal stories, music, community participation, and meaningful human connection.

The festival featured four distinct programs: the opening-night production Stories of Berkeley, a hands-on personal storytelling workshop, the participatory Berkeley Open Stage, and a special closing-night edition of Third Culture Tales. Together, the events welcomed established performers, emerging artists, first-time storytellers, Berkeley residents, members of diaspora communities, and audiences from across the Bay Area.

The festival opened on Friday, September 18, with Stories of Berkeley, an evening devoted to the people, experiences, histories, and perspectives that give Berkeley its distinctive character. The sold-out program invited audiences to encounter the city through personal stories and artistic expressions rooted in memory, identity, change, creativity, and belonging.

The evening featured award-winning storyteller, humorist, and human-rights activist Max Houghton; Human Rights Activist and Writer Anirvan Chaterjee Berkeley-raised writer, documentary filmmaker, and stunt performer Kelly Richardson; musician, singer, oud player, and yoga instructor Sara Saberi; Diaspora Arts Connection Founder and human rights activist Nazy Kaviani; and business leader and arts supporter Payman Najafpour. The evening was hosted by Shayan Ravandoust, storyteller and organizer of the festival.

Through their different voices and experiences, the participants created a layered portrait of Berkeley—not as a single story, but as a place continually shaped by the people who live in it, leave it, return to it, and carry its influence with them.

Saturday’s programming began with a sold-out personal storytelling workshop led by Shayan Ravandoust, founder of Third Culture Tales, and co-facilitated by Kavian Ravandoust, a licensed therapist, writer, and storyteller. Together, they guided participants in shaping lived experiences into compelling narratives through character, scene, detail, tension, reflection, and performance. The workshop emphasized that meaningful stories do not require extraordinary circumstances; they emerge from how individuals remember, interpret, and share the moments that have shaped them.

Many participants arrived without previous writing or performance experience. By the end of the session, they had developed and shared personal stories in a supportive environment, building confidence in their ability to speak before an audience and connect through lived experience.

That evening, the festival returned with the sold-out Berkeley Open Stage, a noncompetitive community storytelling event open to experienced performers and first-time participants alike. Community members stepped onto the stage to share five-minute true stories that ranged from humorous and unexpected to vulnerable and deeply moving.

The Open Stage reflected one of the festival’s central commitments: storytelling should not belong only to professional artists. By removing competition and judging, the program created a welcoming environment where different voices, experiences, and storytelling styles could coexist.

The evening also featured acclaimed Iranian American singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and Persian setâr virtuoso Fared Shafinury as the special musical guest. Shafinury’s performance brought another dimension to the program, connecting musical tradition, cultural memory, and contemporary artistic expression.

The festival concluded on Sunday, September 20, with a sold-out special edition of Third Culture Tales, the live storytelling platform dedicated to explore migration, identity, cultural inheritance, belonging, and life between worlds.

The closing-night storytellers included interdisciplinary Iranian American artist Shirin Towfiq, whose work explores migration, family history, cultural memory, and belonging; UC Berkeley alumna Nasrin Murad, who shared a personal perspective shaped by culture, community, and immigration; artist, writer, musician, and four-time Moth StorySLAM winner Eva Schlesinger; master musician, composer, and ney player Mohammad Khodadadi; and Stanford lecturer, award-winning educator, Moth GrandSLAM finalist, and First Person Story founder Harriett “Dr. J” Jernigan.

The program was hosted by Third Culture Tales alum Vivek Venugopal, a Bay Area storyteller, improviser, performer, and facilitator whose life across Zambia, India, and the United States informs his approach to storytelling and human connection.

The closing event brought together stories shaped by migration, displacement, family, tradition, reinvention, humor, and the continuing search for home. While the storytellers came from different creative, cultural, and professional backgrounds, the evening revealed the shared emotions that can connect people across borders and generations.

“The response to this first festival exceeded what we imagined,” said Shayan Ravandoust, who led the festival’s artistic direction, programming, hosting, and operations. “The room was full, but what mattered most was the quality of attention inside those rooms. People listened generously, storytellers took real creative and emotional risks, and audiences stayed to speak with one another afterward. That sense of intimacy and connection is exactly why this festival was created.”

The Berkeley Storytelling Festival was developed as a community-centered gathering rather than a large or impersonal cultural production. Impossible Stage’s intimate setting allowed audiences and performers to share the same space closely, creating the feeling of a cultural living room in the heart of Berkeley.

“The sold-out response demonstrates that people are hungry for spaces where they can encounter one another beyond headlines, labels, and assumptions,” said Kaviani. “Storytelling allows us to recognize the complexity of another person’s life while also discovering the experiences we share. We are proud that this first festival created that kind of space in Berkeley.”

Following the success of its inaugural edition, the Berkeley Storytelling Festival will continue as a new tradition. Future editions will build upon the festival’s combination of curated performances, practical workshops, open participation, music, and cross-cultural storytelling while remaining intimate, accessible, and rooted in the community.

Plans for the next Berkeley Storytelling Festival will be announced at a later date.

About Diaspora Arts Connection

Diaspora Arts Connection is a Bay Area nonprofit organization that strengthens communities through the arts by supporting artists, preserving cultural heritage, and creating opportunities for dialogue across cultures. DAC has presented more than 500 events, supported more than 2,200 artists, and welcomed more than 30,000 audience members.

Shayan Ravandoust
Diaspora Arts Connection
+1 925-318-2017
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