“Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After…” Audio Tour of Lake Merritt

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After… audio tour will offer an immersive experience to listeners—using a mixture of ambient field recordings, interviews, music and narration to weave an idiosyncratic but approachable narrative that will guide listeners through the various natural and artificial elements that surround Lake Merritt.

• With an emphasis on local history, cultural diversity, urban ecology, and the power of imagination, the Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After… audio tour will explore the invisible that surrounds the visible—the stories and forces that have shaped the lake and our perceptions of it.

• The 1½–2 hour audio tour will encompass the entire perimeter of the lake divided into 16-20 “stops” or audio tracks, using physical landmarks as departure points so that listeners may enter or exit the tour at any point they choose.

The Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After… audio tour will be free to the public, suitable for all-ages, and widely accessible to Lake Merritt visitors in three forms:

1. listening devices and printed maps will be available on Saturdays and Sundays, June through November 2010 at a booth located inside the Rotary Nature Center in Lakeside Park;
2. an MP3 file of the audio tour and a PDF of the tour map will be available for download from this web site indefinitely;
3. the audio tour will also be accessible via cell phones simply by dialing a designated number that will appear on the tour map and all promotional materials for the project.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.