Save the Dates for the Next Festival: January 16-26, 2025

The 2022 Festival Report

January 20–30, 2022, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival made its triumphant and safe return. Even while the pandemic continued to disrupt cultural life in Chicago and internationally, Festival fans, artists, and staff were thrilled to return to live theater. Enthusiastic audiences showed up vaccinated and masked, packing many houses to capacity.

Dozens of performances, workshops, panel discussions, and family-friendly events astonished and delighted guests at theaters, community organizations, museums, and clubs all around Chicago. Puppets of every possible variety took over Chicago for 11 amazing days and nights of inspiration and invention. For thousands of local and national patrons, the Chicago Puppet Fest was an oasis of fascination and artistry showcasing a distinctive breadth of style, quality of work, and depth of artistic achievement. The largest and most ambitious puppetry festival in North America, the Chicago Puppet Fest again presented a slate of unforgettable experiences and celebrated its status as a beloved and respected cultural institution, locally and globally.