Overview New York Story Fest takes Story Fest's reporters-on-stage format into Brooklyn Heights, to St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, an 1840s Gothic Revival church that is a National Historic Landmark. Back Pocket Presents, the nonprofit that produces the touring show, added New York to its calendar for 2026, with WNYC, Gothamist, Grist, Documented and Hell Gate among the official partners and Vox's Today, Explained podcast on the list. The 2026 theme ran across every city: Villains, stories about what we fear, what we misunderstand and what we become. On site The church stands at Montague and Clinton Streets; Minard Lafever designed it and it went up between 1844 and 1847. The show puts reporters, comedians, short films, dance and live music on one bill, and a reporter's set is a published story rebuilt for the stage with photos, animation and a live score. Audience The partner newsrooms supply the storytellers and promote the night to their own readers and listeners. Track record Story Fest started in Philadelphia in 2023, added Detroit in 2024 and San Francisco in 2025, and has sold out in all three. Back Pocket counts 3,000 attendees and 30 partners across the 2025 tour, up from 800 and 8 in 2023. In New York, Back Pocket had already staged a storytelling night with Grist for Climate Week in 2024. Brand presence Americans United for Separation of Church and State presented the 2026 season. Partners buy in at four levels and can host the VIP mixer before doors, with the storytellers and editors, or fund a branded story built into the show and cut into video for the partner newsrooms. Category exclusivity and top billing are available. Back Pocket's partners across its events have included Meta, W Hotels, Toyota and Comcast, and its media collaborators have included The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg.