The Metro: StoryFest explores the hidden forces that shape community
The second Detroit StoryFest gathers voices from across the city to explore the invisible currents of migration and movement that have enriched metro Detroit communities.
The audience at StoryFest in October 2024 at the Detroit Film Theatre, the inaugural installment of the festival.
In metro Detroit, there’s constant movement. People coming, going, or staying by insistence or force. But sometimes the strongest currents of change live deep beneath the surface.
This idea is central to the second installment of StoryFest at the Detroit Opera House. The theme, “No Small Wind Is Blowing,” draws on the rhythm of migration, transition, and the unseen forces that shape our lives and the communities we inhabit.
The festival began as an experiment last fall, selling out the Detroit Film Theatre. The storytellers included poets, residents and WDET journalists whose stories rarely share the same stage.
This year, StoryFest expands in size and ambition. At its center is a question: Can stories help us see each other with depth and nuance, in a grey area rather than one defined by black and white boundaries?
Ahead of the show happening tonight at the Detroit Opera House, two of the festival’s curators, Tay Glass and McArdle Hankin of Back Pocket Media, joined Cary Junior II to discuss the power of live storytelling.
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