This summer will mark the fourth year of Nottingham Puppet Festival, and if you're yet to experience it, then you’re guaranteed a very memorable time.
Between Saturday 27 June and Sunday 5 July streets, local libraries, community centres, cinemas, and theatres will come to life with puppets of all shapes and sizes for the Nottingham Puppet Festival. The event is an Arts Council England and Its In Nottingham funded partnership with the Royal Concert Hall and City Arts.
“When we ask ourselves, ‘why puppets?’” says Alison Denholm, Festival Director, “We keep coming back to the answer: puppets are good at telling stories about what it is like to be human. We hope this festival brings joy, magic, and wonder into our everyday lives, for children and adults alike.”
If you like the idea of marvelling at puppets via a weekend walk through the city, we recommend the City Centre Day, on Saturday 27 June. From 10.30am to 5pm, a trail of free performances and walkabout will stretch from Nottingham Central Library and Listergate, through Albert Street, and up to the Market Square.
The day will feature a leaping giant Mountain Hare, Kantaben the Roller Bird and kinetic statues like the four-metre-tall Worker Bee, along with recurring puppet shows throughout the day. Not half bad as a spectacle, we think.
Puppets are good at telling stories about what it is like to be human
As well as that, throughout the festival, a menagerie of puppets will hit some of the city's favourite stages. At the Theatre Royal, there will be family friendly performances like The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, and the sustainability-focused Robin Hood and his Animal Friends.
Meanwhile, the Lakeside Arts team host Fly Away Katie, best suited for children and young people aged between seven to nine, while partnering with Bamboozle Theatre and the University of Nottingham to deliver a lineup of inclusive programming for kids with profound and multiple learning disabilities on Sunday 5 July.
There’ll be lots of opportunities for adults to get stuck into the fun too, with the award-winning Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets at the Royal Concert Hall, and the Blind Summit Theatre’s comical yet tender take on contemporary sex, The Sex Lives of Puppets.
Alternatively, for those who want to take a deeper dive into the industry, Broadway Cinema is hosting a programme of workshops and screenings featuring the stop motion animator Richard Pickersgill, and at Nottingham Trent’s Waverley Studio, Lucasfilm’s Martin Rezard will lead a masterclass in film puppetry.
We’re very excited about this one. It’s got some lovely local creatives who care a lot about the arts and culture involved, while attracting some hugely skilled artists and makers to the city. Thanks to our friends at It's In Nottingham for supporting this day! Head to the website for more information.
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