Diaspora Arts Connection Launches the Inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival

Three-day festival brings together live storytelling, workshops, and community participation in the heart of Berkeley

BERKELEY, VT, UNITED STATES, June 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Diaspora Arts Connection (DAC) is proud to announce the inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival, a new three-day celebration of storytelling, community, and cultural connection taking place September 18–20, 2026, at Impossible Stage in Berkeley.

Designed as an intimate gathering where personal stories take center stage, the festival will bring together artists, residents, writers, performers, students, and community members through a series of live storytelling events, workshops, and participatory programs. The festival aims to create space for meaningful dialogue, creative expression, and connection through the timeless art of storytelling.

The inaugural festival features four programs:

Stories of Berkeley (September 18) opens the festival with an evening of stories connected to Berkeley’s people, neighborhoods, history, and evolving cultural landscape.

Storytelling Workshop (September 19) offers participants an introduction to the craft of personal storytelling, providing practical tools for developing and sharing true stories.

Berkeley Open Stage (September 19) invites community members of all experience levels to share five-minute true stories in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Third Culture Tales (September 20) closes the festival with a curated evening of stories exploring identity, belonging, migration, and the experiences that connect us across cultures and communities.

Stories are a series of multi-layered snapshots of a diaspora's life, history, memories and journey "home." Through stories, we share the essence of our identity beyond labels, statistics, and headlines. For those brief moments of storytelling, we each live the other's life and touch each other's hearts, taking a thought, a feeling, or a lesson with us to refelct upon later" , said Nazy Kaviani, Executive Director at Diaspora Arts Connection. "Berkeley has been the arrival and departure point of many diaspora in the US for more than a century. It is quite appropriate for such a meeting point of people and cultures to be the place where we will tell and share our stories

The Berkeley Storytelling Festival builds on the success of Third Culture Tales, DAC’s storytelling initiative that has hosted events in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Amsterdam. The festival represents the next step in expanding storytelling as a community-centered art form and establishing Berkeley as a gathering place for voices, perspectives, and lived experiences.

Tickets and additional information are available at:

diasporaartsconnection.org/bsf2026

About Diaspora Arts Connection

Diaspora Arts Connection (DAC) is a Bay Area nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting immigrant and diaspora artists through cultural programming, artistic exchange, and community engagement. Since its founding, DAC has produced more than 500 cultural events, supported over 2,000 artists, and welcomed tens of thousands of audience members throughout the Bay Area. Through programs including Third Culture Tales, DAC creates opportunities for artists and communities to share stories, build connections, and foster cross-cultural understanding.

Shayan Ravandoust
Diaspora Arts Connection
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