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Menu
  • The 2023 Festival
    • Performances
    • Opening Night Events
    • Catapult Artists Intensive
    • Workshops During the Festival
    • Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
    • Free Neighborhood Tour
    • Pop-Up Puppet Hub
    • Festival Partners and Sponsors
    • Show Credits/Programs
    • Past Events
  • Other Activities
    • The Spring Living Room Tour
    • Monthly Open Houses
    • Chicago Puppet Lab
    • Chicago Puppet Studio
    • Puppet-in-Place
  • Workshops
    • Summer 2023 Workshops
    • About Our Instructors
    • Past Workshops
  • About
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors + Committees
    • Internship Program
    • The 2021-26 Strategic Plan
    • About Sponsorships
    • In the News
    • Health & Safety Measures
    • Submit Your Show
    • Donate and Get Involved
    • Contact
    • Past Festivals
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Chicago Puppet Studio Builds Puppets for “Candide”

February 26, 2020 No Comments

Chicago Puppet Studio is building 14 puppets for Director/Designer James Ortiz’s production of “Candide” being performed at Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theater opening in April 2020.  

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Chicago Puppet Studio has won the 2019 Jeff Equity Award for Best Puppet Design

October 29, 2019 No Comments

Chicago Puppet Studio has won the 2019 Jeff Equity Award for Best Puppet Design for The Steadfast Tin Soldier – Lookingglass Theatre Company. Read the list of all nominees and

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Blair Thomas and Sandy Smith Gerding named by NewCity Stage

January 2, 2019 No Comments

Artistic Director and Founder Blair Thomas and Managing Director Sandy Gerding were named by NewCity Stage in Players 2019: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago.   

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Give Them a Hand: Puppet Artists Are Having a Moment

February 1, 2017 No Comments

By Laura Collins-Hughes CHICAGO — A shop vacuum became a lover; suction was involved. Feet turned into faces. A great fanged creature appeared with a man inside. Ghostly villagers assembled,

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Puppets come to life at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

January 25, 2017 No Comments

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival runs through Jan. 29 and includes a wide assortment of performances and workshops in the field of puppetry.

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Around Town visits the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

January 23, 2017 No Comments

Watch on WGN Why Would Chicago Host an International Festival of Puppet Theater? Before 1912, the term “Puppeteer” did not exist in the English language.  Ellen von Volkenburg a director

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Behind the Scenes at Chicago’s Puppet Festival

January 23, 2017 No Comments

by Mark Vitali For the next 10 days, Chicago will be the puppetry capital of the world. Artists from South Korea, Canada, France, Chile and other countries join local puppeteers

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For the next ten days Chicago is the puppet capital of the world

January 23, 2017 No Comments

by Tony Adler Spring 1988. The Spanish puppet company Comediants is onstage at Park West and a 26-year-old Blair Thomas is in the audience having a revelation. “I saw that

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Weekend Passport: Ukrainian Music And Iranian Puppets

January 14, 2017 No Comments

Each week global citizen Nari Safavi usually helps listeners plan their international weekend. This week, we look ahead to the Chicago Puppet Festival, which begins next week. One of the

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About the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival advances the art of puppetry by presenting sophisticated programs vital to the cultural life of Chicago. Engaging and inspiring the largest and most diverse audiences for puppetry possible, the Festival is the biggest event dedicated to puppetry in North America and traditionally offers more than 100 activities annually including performances, workshops, artist instensives, free neighborhood events and symposia to audiences up to 14,000 over 11 days each January. The organization is also home to other key initiatives, including the Chicago Puppet Studio and Chicago Puppet Lab, that nurture the development of puppeteers and deepen the field locally, nationally and internationally with the ultimate goal of promoting peace, equality, mutual understanding, and justice locally and globally.

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Contact

Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave, Studio 310
Chicago, IL 60605

Administrative Office:
312 753 3234
info@chicagopuppetfest.org

© 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All rights reserved. Site by Silver Egg Studios.

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