York Story Slam is a monthly gathering where anyone can take a turn at the microphone and tell a TRUE story based on that month's theme.
Our series is part of the growing regional offering of open mic story slam events. Attendees can come and simply listen to other people tell stories, or they can sign up to tell your own story. Storytellers register upon arrival by putting their name into a hat and we draw 10 names to share their true, first-person, five-minute stories based on that month's theme.
Three judges are chosen from the audience and each storyteller is given scores based on content and presentation. The storyteller with the top score at each event earns a spot in our Grand Slam at the Capitol Theatre at the end of the season, when all the winners from throughout the year return to compete for the title of Best Storyteller in York.
In addition to the live event, we post the stories to our YouTube channel and feature selected stories from each event in our monthly podcast (available for free wherever you get your podcasts). 2025 is our tenth season of live storytelling in downtown York. To date, we have welcomed more than 6,500 attendees and more than 970 names in the hat. That’s 970 true, personal stories shared with neighbors – friends, acquaintances, and strangers – in the safe space York Story Slam provides, and the events continue to sell out every month.
Storytelling is a wonderful way to get to know others in your community; to uncover things you have in common with your neighbors, and to recognize and understand our differences. We know that now, more than ever, we’re all hungry for connecting with other people, and we believe sharing stories is among the best ways to do that.