Deep in the heart of the winter, we gather in dark theaters, set aside our homosapien centrism, and allow the material world of surrogate humans, animals and spirits to stand before us. These puppets have stories to tell.

You will hear of: a revolt of the animals to save the planet, an epic ancient Persian tale, the adventures of a marooned astronaut, the creation of an afrofuturist Pinocchio, a terrible terrible monster facing his greatest fear, an unsuspected deal with the devil, an Aunt’s auspicious invitation to lunch, and urban youth encountering gun violence. The treat for you, dear viewer, lies with the storytellers themselves: the puppets. They will speak to us in their own rare language, beyond mere words or the physical world, offering us entry into our own transcendent experience.

We are delighted to feature the world premiere of Wakka Wakka Productions’ Animalia Trilogy. This year our Free Neighborhood Tour will offer performances across all days of our Festival. Please come to the Fine Arts Building to visit our Puppet Hub featuring our new Pop-Up Shop, Spoke & Bird Pop-Up Cafe, two exhibitions, and our Symposium of artist panels as well as book talks featuring authors of recent U.S. puppet publications.

Let the enchantment begin!