Community Storytelling Outreach
Open Circle Pop-Ups are welcoming storytelling gatherings hosted in community spaces such as libraries, community centres, cultural venues, and partner organizations.
These facilitated sessions create simple, accessible opportunities for people to share stories, listen to others, and connect across cultures and generations.
Each Open Circle event offers a low-barrier entry point into storytelling and community dialogue—creating moments where people can pause, reflect, and connect through shared experiences.
What Is an Open Circle?
Open Circle is a community storytelling outreach initiative designed to bring storytelling and dialogue into everyday community spaces.
These gatherings are typically 90-minute facilitated sessions in which participants engage with guided storytelling prompts, reflective listening, and group dialogue.
Open Circle events are intentionally designed to be:
• Welcoming and accessible
• Trauma-aware and respectful
• Flexible for diverse community settings
• Focused on dialogue rather than performance
Participants may share personal stories, reflect on life experiences, or simply listen and engage in conversation.
Each gathering invites people to connect through storytelling, fostering empathy, understanding, and belonging.
Why Open Circle Pop-Ups Matter
Many people—particularly newcomers, seniors, youth, and individuals experiencing displacement—face barriers to connection and belonging.
Open Circle storytelling sessions help address these challenges by creating spaces where people can:
• Share lived experiences in supportive environments
• Build confidence in expressing their stories
• Engage in meaningful conversations across cultures and generations
• Strengthen social connections and reduce isolation
By bringing storytelling into community spaces, Open Circle helps transform everyday settings into opportunities for dialogue and connection.
How Open Circle Pop-Ups Work
Each Open Circle session is guided by trained facilitators from The StoryBridge Network and follows a simple structure designed to support safe and meaningful engagement.
Participants are invited to:
• Reflect on storytelling prompts or personal artifacts
• Share stories in small group or circle conversations
• Listen with curiosity and respect
• Engage in dialogue and reflection as a group
Sessions emphasize ethical storytelling practices, confidentiality, and voluntary participation to ensure a welcoming and respectful environment for everyone involved.
Host an Open Circle Pop-Up
StoryBridge partners with community organizations, libraries, schools, and cultural institutions to host Open Circle storytelling sessions.
Hosting an Open Circle is a simple way to bring storytelling and dialogue into your community.
StoryBridge provides:
• Trained storytelling facilitators
• Guided storytelling prompts and activities
• Trauma-aware facilitation practices
• Materials and session structure
Host organizations provide:
• A welcoming venue or community space
• Participant outreach and invitations
• Logistical coordination with StoryBridge facilitators
Each Open Circle event is tailored to the needs of the community or organization hosting it.
Part of the StoryBridge Program Ecosystem
Open Circle gatherings often serve as an entry point to other StoryBridge initiatives.
Participants may later join:
• Storytelling Cafés – day-long or multi-week storytelling workshops
• StoryScape Youth Program – storytelling and creative expression summer programs for youth
• The Story From Here Book Project – community storytelling publication initiative
Explore More StoryBridge Programs
Community storytelling programs where participants develop and share personal narratives through writing, dialogue, and performance.
Collaborate with StoryBridge to host storytelling programs or community dialogue initiatives.
Storytelling and expressive arts programming designed to support youth confidence, creativity, and cross-cultural learning.
Explore examples of StoryBridge storytelling programs, workshops, and community engagement initiatives.