I think in the context of modern discussions of interactive theatre, narrative online etc the really good oral storytellers, particularly those going for a certain style which aims to retrieve a model from the past (ie strong technical training but predominantly live composition, as with Ben Haggarty) are the left field. Or a left field anyway. So much of what we experience these days is coming from either a theatrical, literary or lately – “get up and join in physically” basis – that we have moved away from the imaginative exercise of listening to pure oral storytelling.

But for other ideas. I don’t know how much flexibility you have with the building/rooms etc. Is there anyone out there working with building based narrative (a la Rennaissance Cathedrals). I’ve been at a couple of conference with people building things out of cardboard – but nothing I’d recommend as very strong in a narrative sense – maybe someone else has come across something else out there because it has to be possible.

Again dependant on space – are there small side rooms where instead of speakers you could look for curators. Short film; animation and digital storytelling (ask the guys at glamorgan for the last one) would be options for “drop in” and get a quick narrative hit – and in all three of those fields you’d find both very traditional narrative styles and all sorts of unusual options – but I can’t imagine you having time to chase “wow” recommendations for 10-20 of each of these – perhaps easier to find one person for each with a good eye.

Finally Luci-Gorrell Barnes has a very beautiful installation called the Book Shed. The experience has its own surreal narrative quality – and each participant also gets to experience a hand written/hand drawn narrative – in solitude or with one or two otherpeople. Possibly still a bit performance focused for what you want?
http://www.lucigorellbarnes.co.uk/bookshed.html

I once heard Tony Dunne talk about how people made emotional connections to the inanimate objects in his Placebo project. It was as an aside from the main thrust of the project, but I remember being fascinated by the behaviours observed in the users and how they made stories for the Placebo objects they adopted.

http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk