Outdoor storytelling experience for public to rediscover arts and culture precinct held in October; led by 3 Singaporean storytellers

Visitors can anticipate an outdoor storytelling experience by Arts House Limited (AHL) and The Storytelling Centre Limited (TSCL) in early October.

The experience, known as Story Walk, is part of the annual StoryFest. This year marks the first time StoryFest is offering an innovative format.

The annual festival encourages the public to rediscover the arts and culture precinct through storytelling, iconic monuments, and public spaces in the district. Story Walk will also spotlight the newly launched Civic District’s public art trail, Benchmarks.

The experience will entail a leisurely walk along the riverside, with three art benches strategically placed to facilitate the sharing of oral stories.

These benches showcase artworks that are integral to the Benchmarks public art trail, a placemaking project introduced by the Civic District Alliance to enhance the liveliness of the precinct.

The stories, woven together by local author Verena Tay, draws inspiration from the artists’ concepts and origin stories of the three art benches. The author also combined historical facts with elements of fictional tales in these stories.

The experience will be led by Singaporean storytellers, Wesley Leon Aroozoo, Laura Kee and Hafiz Rashid. Participants can anticipate a range of stories, including “rice godown escapades” and narratives of seafarers who “embraced the waters as their abode”.

A guided paper craft activity will also be held at The Arts House, showcasing authentic prints on postcards that are designed by local artists Victor Emmanuel and Stellah Lim. There, participants can draw on their own Story Walk experience and design personalised art bench mementos.

There will be two daily Story Walk sessions taking place on Oct 6 and 7, each lasting for an hour. The morning session is geared towards families with children aged six to eight, while the evening session is tailored for general audiences.

A digital version of the programme will also be available next January as part of the Light to Night Festival 2024.

Tickets are priced at $10 each, with a limited number of slots offered per session.