Free Neighborhood Tour
Free Neighborhood Tour: Fostering an Appreciation of Puppetry Throughout the City
The Puppet Festival’s annual Free Neighborhood Tour brings free, family-friendly performances to locations outside of Chicago’s theaters to foster an appreciation for puppetry throughout the city. The tour offers a range of high-quality puppetry styles to create moments of community enjoyment while expanding the city’s base of puppet enthusiasts. The Tour once again presents two free, family-friendly puppet shows, this year from Spain and Baltimore, to venues and community spaces all over the city. Stay tuned for dates, times and locations.
More than 10 performances of two free, family-friendly Shows!
No Tickets Necessary – First Come, First Served!
Stone by Stone
by Tian Gombau (Spain)
Spanish puppet artist Tian Gombau was walking barefoot on the beach one day when he suddenly realized there are so many stones on earth. He started to classify them and keep them as precious treasures, thinking, if you look at what’s inside them, one realizes there is something more than just a stone. The result is an ingenious, endearing, 30-minute imagination-awakening experience for children using only inanimate objects.
Running Time: 30 mins
Dates and Locations: Stone by Stone
Thursday, January 22 at 4:30 p.m.
Theatre Y
3611 W. Cermak Rd.
North Lawndale
Friday, January 23 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
TBC
Friday, January 23 at 4:30 p.m.
Marshall Field Garden Apartments/Art on Sedgwick
1406 N. Sedgwick St.
Old Town
Saturday, January 24 at 4 p.m.
Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center
4048 W. Armitage Ave.
Hermosa
Sunday, January 25 at 2 p.m.
345 Gallery
345 N. Kedzie Ave.
East Garfield Park
Happy Birthday, Mon Ami
by Alex & Olmsted (Baltimore/U.S.)
Class, cultures, and expectations clash when Jacques’ American cousin Sam visits him in Paris for a birthday celebration. Winner of a 2024 Jim Henson Foundation grant award, Happy Birthday, Mon Ami combines glove puppetry, live music, and audience participation to create a delightful hour of fun for the whole family. Broadwayworld calls it “tiny, enchanting and exquisite.”
Running Time: 60 min
Dates and Locations: Happy Birthday, Mon Ami
Wednesday, January 28 at 6 p.m.
Center on Halsted/John Baran Hall
3656 N. Halsted St.
Lakeview
Thursday, January 29 at 6 p.m.
TBC
Friday, January 30
TBC
Saturday, January 31
TBC
Sunday, February 1 at 11 a.m.
Experimental Station
6100 S. Blackstone Ave.
Woodlawn