The Moth StorySLAM Will Kick Off ArtsFest

ArtsFest will kick off this year on Thursday, October 19^th with a visit from The Moth, which will be bringing one of its acclaimed StorySLAMs to New Rochelle for the first time. The Moth will alight at Trinity St. Paul Parish Hall (311 Huguenot St., New Rochelle) for a live, community-focused open-mic storytelling competition in which anyone can sign up to share a five-minute story on the night’s theme, “Traditions.”

Audience members can sign up for a chance to tell a story or sit back and enjoy the show, with refreshments available on site. Tickets for the Story SLAM cost $15 and seating is limited so advance registration is a must: Tickets will be available to the general public after September 28th at https://themoth.org/events/traditions-new-rochelle.

The theme for New Rochelle’s StorySLAM is…TRADITIONS: Prepare a five-minute story about birthrights and rituals, customs and lore from those who came before. Birthrights and rituals, Friday night football or family FaceTime each Sunday. Bar mitzvahs or Quinceañeras, first piercings or tattoos. Dim sum on Christmas. The seven principles of Kwanzaa. Friendsgiving feast, or being a balloon handler at New Rochelle’s Thanksgiving parade. Rites of passage that are dreaded or adored. Sometimes traditions are both!

Doors will open at 6:30 PM, and the show will start at 7:00 PM. Seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be sure to arrive at least 10 minutes before the show. Admission is not guaranteed for late arrivals. All sales final. As many as 10 tickets may be available at the door for all of The Moth StorySLAMs on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Moth storytelling platform includes The Moth Radio Hour, which showcases real stories, each under 10 minutes, and is aired on over 500 radio stations where it is heard by over 1 million listeners each week. The Peabody Award-winning Moth podcast, which provides free audio of curated stories from live Moth events, is downloaded over 100 million times each year, making it one of America’s most successful podcasts.

“We’re very excited to bring The Moth to New Rochelle for ArtsFest this year,” says NRCA  Advisory Board member Angela Derecas Taylor, who is the Coordinator for The Moth’s StorySLAM in New Rochelle. “ArtsFest is all about storytelling through the arts, so the StorySLAM is a perfect way to get the weekend started.”