Winnipeg Story Slam
- Ages 18+
LIVE open mic storytelling competition. Open to anyone with a five-minute story to share!
Date and time
Location
Royal Albert Hotel
48 Albert Street Winnipeg, MB R3B 1E7 CanadaRefund Policy
About this event
The next Winnipeg Story Slam event is happening Tuesday, April 8th!
This month's theme is: GROWING PAINS
Growth is messy. It’s awkward, hilarious, sometimes painful—but always a story worth telling. This month’s Winnipeg Story Slam invites storytellers to share their tales of transformation, mishaps, and lessons learned the hard way. Whether it’s a childhood embarrassment, a career misstep, or a friendship that stretched you in unexpected ways, we want to hear how you navigated the twists and turns of growing up, growing wise, or just growing through it.
Laugh. Cringe. Relate. Join us for a night of raw, real, and unforgettable stories—live on stage.
Come and share a story or just be part of the live audience!
This friendly competition is open-mic style and includes:
- 10 Storytellers chosen from a hat
- 5 minutes to tell a captivating true story
- 5 volunteer audience judges
- One cash prize for the winner
- Plenty of unknowns and surprises
Come be part of building this storytelling community where stories - a moment in time - with a beginning, a middle, and an end, are shared!
Real Stories. Live Voices.
TUESDAY - APRIL 8th - @ THE ROYAL ALBERT ARMS (in the Exchange district)
Doors open at 6:30 for sign up, and STORIES STARTS AT 7:30!
$10 ticket.
(NOTE: Venue is CASH ONLY. ATM on site. New food menu is available. CASH ONLY)
RULES
- 5 minute story. After 5 minutes, there will be a penalty. After 7 minutes, there will be music to signal the end
- Sign up in person the evening of the event with the host table
- No props
- Story must be original, unpublished, true, and told in the first person.
- You can read from a script on paper, or device
- Names are drawn for order of storytelling
- This is a lottery draw and there is no guarantee you will be able to tell your story if more than 10 people sign up. People are allowed to sign up from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
- No registrations are allowed after the show starts at 7:30 pm, even if there is less than 10 storytellers. This rule is to make it fair, as it is difficult to go first and later submissions mean the storytellers have an advantage
- There are 5 random audience judges. We pick them at the beginning of the evening
- Judges score 1 to 10, with one decimal point. The highest score and the lowest score are eliminated and the three middle numbers are added up. Judges give their scores after each storyteller
- Please note: this is a FRIENDLY competition! Everyone is volunteering!
- All proceeds go to the winner (after venue rental fee and any other expenses are covered. We are a not-for-profit event, led by volunteers)
- The highest score of the evening wins the pot
- Please remember this event is run by volunteers who love stories. There are no paid staff. All money for this event goes back into the storytelling community.
Frequently asked questions
Just show up at The Royal Albert Arms at 48 Albert Street anytime between 6:30 and 7:30 pm to sign up the evening of the event. You will not be able to sign up after 7:30 pm when the show has started. First 10 people drawn from the hat will be able to compete.
You can tell any true story... first hand account nonfiction. We ask that stories do not contain hateful content and are respectful.
Yes, or off the top of your head. We just ask you do not use props.
We ask that stories do not contain anything hateful or demeaning.
Stories should have a beginning, middle and end. There are some great resources out there on how to tell a great story.
You have 5 minutes to tell a story. After that there is a penalty. After 7 minutes there is music to signal the end. It is hard to win if you go over with penalty points so practice practice and practice ahead of time!
In downtown Winnipeg! 48 Albert Street at The Royal Albert Arms Pub and Atrium.
It depends on how many people show up! Our event is $10 a ticket and that goes to cover the venue rental fee and any expenses related to launching Winnipeg Story Slam, and the rest of the pot is put aside as the cash prize for the winner!
You win by having the highest score at the end of the night. For each of the ten storytellers, we add up the three middle scores and eliminate the highest and the lowest score provided by 5 judges. In case of a tie, we split the proceeds and declare you both winners.
$10. You can give more if you would like! IF you are putting your name forward to be a storyteller and you are NOT chosen from the hat, you can attend another Story Slam (which we hope to host again!) at no charge. Also, we ask that you support the establishment and enjoy a beverage or two!
Winnipeg Story Slam volunteers will ask people in the crowd to be judges at the beginning of the evening. We ask judges to be impartial and not friends with the contestants.
Our first ever Winnipeg Story Slam was held in October 2024. But similar events have been happening all over Canada, and the world, for decades.
Our event is largely inspired by TheMoth.org, along with Vancouver Story Slam and Edmonton Story Slam. We can’t thank our Western Canadian counterparts enough for their unwavering support and encouragement for our event!