Skipton Puppet Festival 2013

From flea circuses to giant sheep, all creatures great and small feature in the 5th Skipton International Puppet Festival
27 – 29 September 2013

From flea circuses to giant sheep, trolls to tea kettles, the streets of a quiet Dales market town will be once again filled with puppets at the end of September as Skipton Puppet Festival returns for its fifth outing.
Preparations for the festival are well underway, with thirty companies from across Europe already booked. The festival mixes traditional and more experimental puppetry, with performers travelling to Yorkshire from as far afield as Croatia and the Czech Republic.
There’ll also be plenty of homegrown favourites like the Giant Swaledale sheep and their sheepdog, who’ll be herding the puppets at the Saturday afternoon parade – even keeping the gigantic Mr Punch in line!
There’s something for everyone in this warm and inspiring festival, from Baobab and Bushbaby for the under threes through to a more experimental slapstick show for the
grownups from Les Homes Vides. There will be eighty performances in total, with a mix of free and paid events so there’s something for everyone, whatever your budget.
The festival takes over venues across Skipton, with a Puppet Parade through the town centre on the Saturday afternoon. Local schools and community groups are getting involved too, with workshops and special performances using puppets to tell stories that are interesting, funny, and thought-provoking.
Tickets go on sale in July; for regular updates, visit the festival website at
www.skiptonpuppetfestival.co.uk or follow the Festival on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/skiptonpuppetfestival