TRADING STORIES

Explore a market within the market.

Among the everyday bustle of Leadenhall Market, discover secret stalls and pop-up performances where international artists invite you into playful exchanges: a story for a token, a taste for a memory, a conversation with a stranger.

Over two days, this free immersive marketplace transforms public spaces into moments of connection, where stories are traded, memories are shared, and small acts of encounter become the currency.

Created by Koro Lab artists, the event celebrates bold migrant voices and invites visitors to see the market - and each other - differently.

A woman looking inside an old suitcase containing a pair of shoes

Practical details

Location: Across Leadenhall Market, Gracechurch St, London EC3V 1LT

Dates:
• 18 September 2026 - 1-5pm
• 19 September 2026 - 12-4pm

Tickets: Free, drop in

Audience members looking at a brightly lit museum case containing everyday objects

Miniature houses lit from within inside a suitcase, with an audience member leaning over them

Programme

The Barter by Pepa Duarte: Step into an auction house where money is worthless and stories are the currency. Browse a collection of objects offered by the performers, choose your favourite, then barter for it with a story of your own.
Friday: 1-1.30pm, 2.30-3pm & 4.30-5pm I Saturday: 12-12.30pm, 1.45-2.15pm & 3.30-4pm

A Divination by King of More: Slow down, sip your coffee and let the grains settle while King of More attempts to reveal your near future. Part Bosnian coffee reading, part clowning, and part joyful encounter with the unknown.
Friday: 1.45-2.15pm & 3.15-3.45pm I Saturday: 1.15-1.45pm & 3-3.30pm

Touching Home by 27 degrees: What does home feel like when you’ve left it behind? Enter a living room shaped by the experiences of 10 London migrants. Through objects, sounds and smells, discover fragments of lives lived between places.
Friday: 1-5pm I Saturday: 12-4pm

Don’t Talk to Strangers by state of the [art]: At this pop-up market stall, the goods are social risks. Choose from a menu of interactions, memories, favours, confessions and small acts of care. To make your purchase, you’ll need to strike up an encounter with a stranger.
Friday: 1-5pm I Saturday: 12-4pm

The Price of Leaving by Devanshi Rungta & Vedika Kushalappa: Share a cup of chai and take part in a playful card game that uncovers the complex history of chai in South Asia and its connections to global tea-drinking culture.
Friday: 1-5pm I Saturday: 12-4pm

A Nightjar Journey by African Activities: The drum. The beat. Can you hear it? Listen closely – it is telling you a story. This family show combines storytelling and puppetry to follow Abena’s journey from Ghana to England, exploring belonging, difference and holding two homes in one heart.
Saturday: 12.30-1pm & 2.15-2.45pm

Access

Step-free access, floor condition & seating: Leadenhall Market is step-free, with level access throughout the main market space. Some areas have historic cobbled/paved surfaces, which may be uneven. The event takes place across the market, with seating available at some performances. A disability access map can be downloaded here.

Relaxed performances: All performances are relaxed, which means audiences are allowed to move around, make noise and leave, and re-enter at any time.

Age guidance: All welcome.

Food & drink: The market will be open with a selection of restaurants, cafés and pubs. More info here.

Contact: Please contact info@koro.org.uk if you would like more info about specific performances or want to discuss particular access requirements.

A performer in a colourful African top creating a bird shadow out of a suitcase

TRADING STORIES

Practical details

Programme

Access

Project partners