Storytelling Toronto upcoming events

Storypillar Series: Non Fiction (Saturday, April 25, 2026)

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

WHAT IS THIS EVENT?

TALES OF WISDOM is a storytelling concert featuring a collection of tellers sharing NON-FICTION stories that impart a lasting life lesson.

Theme: Wisdom Tales - Life Lessons in Stories

Tellers will share personal stories of lessons learned, challenges overcome and life events that have stayed with them. Wisdom tales that impart a pearl of lived knowledge.

Featuring Briane Nasimok, Sara Rose Caplan, Brad Woods, Yvy Ringler, Rubena Sinha, Dave Keystone and Jennielea Roxon

The tellers at the event are selected via lottery determined prior to the event.

Festival Kick-Off (Thursday, May 07, 2026)

Thu, 07 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Help us kick off the 2026 Toronto International Storytelling Festival with a fun mixer at A Different Booklist with a performance from celebrated storyteller Itah Sadu.

Casual mixer to follow at the Palmerston Library Theatre from 1:00-3:00pm.

REGISTER FOR FREE.

Welcome Concert (Thursday, May 07, 2026)

Thu, 07 May 2026 22:30:00 GMT

The 2026 Toronto International Storytelling Festival officially begins with our Welcome Concert featuring a showcase of some of our featured performers in the festival, including Daniel Morden, Lenore Keeshig Tobias, Jacqui Du Toit, and Raccontamiunastori.

Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

Corin Raymond's BOOKWORM (Thursday, May 07, 2026)

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:30:00 GMT

From storyteller Corin Raymond comes a joyously-bookish, spoken-word love-letter to the books we’ve loaned and lost, and to the secret paths they travel in the world to find us. BOOKMARKS is a “memoir-o-logue,” a feast of word-fun, and a healing spell for anyone who’s ever lost someone – or something – they deeply loved.

Winnipeg Free Press ★★★★ ½

Little more info:

Corin Raymond is also a Juno-nominated singer/songwriter. His previous “bookish

monologue,” Bookworm (2011), won Best of Fringe in Vancouver in 2012 “Corin

has impeccable timing, and his performance is at once intimate, open-hearted and

evangelical,” Vancouver’s Georgia Straight. His other storytelling-show, The Great

Canadian Tire Money Caper (2015), tells how Corin and a worldwide-community

paid for the making of an entire double-album (Paper Nickels, 2013) with

Canadian Tire money. Corin has released 8 full-length albums, and he keeps his

stuff in Toronto, where he lives with his dog Reese.

“Corin Raymond is a storyteller who by the end of the night you’ll have known your

whole life” – Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail.

Daniel Morden Workshop (Friday, May 08, 2026)

Fri, 08 May 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Join renowned traditional folk storyteller Daniel Morden for this thought provoking workshop as he analyses his process of building Tales From The Dark woods repertoire. This process involves an exploration of the original manuscripts that inspired the piece, as well as a performance of a sample of the piece in its present form.

This workshop is perfect for storytellers looking for skills and insight on how to broaden their understanding of traditional folk stories. It is also an exhilarating opportunity to hear one of Europe's most popular storytellers speak on their craft.

Participants must be 18+

1001 FRIDAY NIGHTS OF STORYTELLING: TORONTO SHOWCASE (Friday, May 08, 2026)

Fri, 08 May 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Come celebrate the rich oral tradition of storytelling with 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling performed LIVE at the Toronto Reference Library Atrium performance space. This showcase will include Festival guest artists Daniel Morden, Lenore Keeshig Tobias, Jacqui Du Toit, Paola Balbi & Davide Bardi of Raccontamiunastoria, and the members of the wonderful 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling.

Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

Every Friday night since 1978, storytellers and listeners have been gathering in Toronto for an open evening of oral stories. Each Friday night is unique, and everyone is welcome to come and listen, come and tell. You might hear traditional tales, stories of personal experience, literary stories, original stories, ballads, or episodes from history, all told through the human voice.

FUNNY YOU SHOULD TELL THAT… (Friday, May 08, 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Join the hilarious Briane Nasimok for a night cap of madcap entertainment featuring a showcase of fine and funny tellers, including Christel Bartelse, Evan Carter, Marsha Shandur, Michael Salvatore, Justin Shaw, and more!

Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

Door: 7:30pm

Show: 8:00pm-9:30pm

The Hottentot Venus - Untold (Saturday, May 09, 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Don’t miss this exciting piece of theatrical storytelling performed by multi-award winning storyteller Jacqui Du Toit.

Hottentot Venus Untold traces the life of Saartjie Baartman, an Indigenous South African woman taken into slavery and brought to London, where she was cruelly displayed as a “savage curiosity.” History remembers her as a symbol of exploitation—but her story is far more layered, resilient, and human.

The performance unfolds in five chapters, each told through the voice of a fictional female character who, in some way—spiritually or physically—intersects with Saartjie’s journey. Each perspective reveals a different truth, creating a five-dimensional portrait of a woman whose life embodied both suffering and courage. Through movement, song, gesture, and spoken word, the voices of these women bring Saartjie’s story to life, challenging the audience to reflect on the ongoing realities of colonization, exploitation, and the erasure of Indigenous voices. At once intimate and epic, this storytelling theatre piece is not just a remembrance of Saartjie Baartman—it is also a mirror held up to the present. It confronts historical injustices while highlighting the strength of Indigenous women, both past and present, whose voices demand to be heard.

Door 1:00pm

Show: 1:30-3:00pm

QUEERS IN YOUR EARS (Saturday, May 09, 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 19:30:00 GMT

Join us for a riveting afternoon of storytelling featuring a renowned collective of storytellers that have been part of the Festival since its inception - Queers in Your Ears!

Founded in 1997 by Rico Rodriguez, this collective is dedicated to telling stories about being queer — stories that had long gone unheard. Focusing on original material, embracing vibrant, queer voices and perspectives, from personal histories to reimagined fairy tales, QIYE pushes boundaries and brings bold new dimensions to the art of storytelling. QIYE is a platform where our queer tales thrive, provoke, and inspire. This year, we trade halos for horns, indulge in some deadly sins, and add a few of our own. After all, QIYE has always proven that a little sin never hurt… much. This event features performances from Rico Rodrigues, Clare Nobbs, Jeffrey Canton, and TJ Banate!

Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

Doors: 3:00pm

Show: 3:30pm-5:00pm

ITALIAN CONNECTIONS - RACCONTI INSIEME - TOGETHER TALES (Saturday, May 09, 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Join us for an evening of tales from Italy featuring the wonderfully talented Brandon Lista, Ness Spence, Romina Di Gasbarro, Sarah Abusarar, and Mariella Bertelli.

Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

THE ILIAD by Raccontamiunastoria (Saturday, May 09, 2026)

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Don’t miss this performance of Raccontamiunastoria’s provoking and engaging performance of ILIAD- The song of Thetis, an epic storytelling show based on Homer’s Iliad.

This show was created and performed by Paola Balbi and Davide Bardi and directed by Joele Anastasi. An incendiary retelling of Homer’s Iliad, sung through the voice of Thetis, Achilles’mother. Two performers fluidly shift between gods and mortals, mother and warrior, goddess and lover, masculine and feminine, collapsing the boundaries of gender, power and fate. Love -maternal, erotic, spiritual- collides with the brutal machinery of war. Developed through international residencies and informed by artistic exchange with Lebanese and Palestinian collaborators working amid ongoing conflict, the production refuses nostalgia. Olympus is not distant; it is political, volatile, human. Nearly three millennia later, the epic burns with the same question: who wages war, and who pays the price?

The production was developed through a two-year innovative creative process within the frame of MYTHICA Project 2024/2025, supported by Rome city Council involving international artistic residencies, open door rehearsals with audience involvement and contributions from top international storytellers and young emerging voices. Crucial to the creative process were real-time testimonies from women artists whose lives are presently affected by the ongoing war in the Middle East: Palestinian storyteller Fidaa Ataya and Lebanese storyteller Sarah Kassir. A key contribution came also by Martinican storyteller Valer Egouy, who supported the cast in exploring the psychological and social dynamics of slavery.

PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP with Raccontamiunastoria (Sunday, May 10, 2026)

Sun, 10 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT

"Suit the action to the word and the word to the action" Tell it with your body!

A Master class on gesture and body language for Performing Storytelling with Paola Balbi and Davide Bardi (Italy)

The workshop will also include a short lecture about formal and informal Storytelling in training in Europe.

Level: Any but need basic Storytelling practice

Duration 3 hours.

"Storytelling is the art of conveying through words, gestures, body language and the modulation of the voice the images of a story to a specific audience."

This is the definition of Storytelling recognized and widely accepted by both FEST- Federation for European Storytelling and National Storytelling US. This definition implies that for a good Storytelling performance a skillful use of body language and gestures are as important as the choice of words and voice modulation, and all these elements are connected.

The title of the workshop is a famous quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet and we now know that Shakespeare's main source of inspiration were Storytellers.

Storytelling is a Performing Art in its own right and as such involves the use of both body and voice, but their use is technically different from the one required in theatre.

If this difference is not clear to you or you never thought about it, this workshop is for you!

If you always thought this is relevant and you want to perfect your technique, this workshop is also for you!

Paola and Davide are both trained actors and Storytellers with 20 years of experience will guide participants through an intense practical workshop aiming at a deep exploration of movement and body language techniques for Storytelling.

Through a very well designed and experimented progression of exercises they will provide everyone with a ready to use and practical tool box to elevate and improve the impact of your Storytelling like you never thought possible.

Please bring a story material from your repertoire to work on and be ready to be challenged.

The workshop is targeting oral Storytelling techniques, so please do not memorize your text, but be ready to work on improvisation as per oral tradition.

FAMILY STORYTELLING (Sunday, May 10, 2026)

Sun, 10 May 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Bring the children for an afternoon of family storytelling featuring Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Jacqui Du Toit, and Lenore Keeshig-Tobias.

12:30pm -1:00pm - Parent-Child Mother Goose

1:15pm - 1:45pm - Teddy Bear’s Picnic with Mariella Bertelli and Sally Jaeger

2:00pm - 2:30pm - Lenore Keeshig-Tobias

2:45 - 3:15pm - Jacqui Du Toit

* Schedule subject to change, please follow Storytelling Toronto on social media for any scheduling updates.

REGISTER FOR FREE!

DANIEL MORDEN’S - THE THIEF’S TALE (Sunday, May 10, 2026)

Sun, 10 May 2026 19:30:00 GMT

Don’t miss Daniel Morden’s THE THIEF'S TALE - Grisly fun with one of Europe's finest storytellers. A thrilling folktale from long ago, brimming with monsters, madness and gruesome humour, told by celebrated storyteller DANIEL MORDEN. One part Homer's Odyssey, one part anxiety dream, The Thief's Tale is a celebration of the art of telling a cracking tell well.

'His performances were full of suspense and drama' NATIONAL THEATRE

'He combines the skills of the troubadour, the actor, the bard, the standup comedian and the preacher in the pulpit.. One of the UK's greatest storytellers' BBC RADIO 3

Suitable 12+ (contains mentions of gore)