Skipton's biennial puppet festival is returning to the town in August, with Skipton Town Hall taking over the operation of the event.
Festival founders Lempen Puppet Theatre Company will retain the role of creative director, with the formal this year incorporating the best of previous festivals.
There will be free outdoor performances, ticketed indoor performances, plus workshops and outreach work.
The full festival was last held in 2019 and then returned on a smaller-scale in 2021 because of the Covid pandemic.
Danielle Daglan, Cultural Services Manager at North Yorkshire Council, says: "The team at Skipton Town Hall are thrilled to be involved with Skipton International Puppet Festival again this year, and delighted to have developed a new closer working relationship with festival founders Liz and Dan Lempen.
With the strengths of all partners involved in the programming, planning and delivery we are excited about the future of the Puppet Festival in Skipton!”
Liz Lempen, festival founder, said “We are really happy that the full professional production team at Skipton Town Hall is now leading on development so the festival can grow into a more sustainable shape for the town. This gives us more space to concentrate on our own creative work at Lempen Puppet Theatre, whilst keeping a connection to the festival via creative programming.
"It has been a very difficult time for arts funding but the commitment to keep the festival alive and kicking is strong and for 2023 there are some fabulous shows and experiences to enjoy so we would urge people to not miss out on a dose of high-quality puppet fun and to support the festival going forward.”
Among the highlights of this year's festival is a special day of free puppet shows at Skipton Canal Basin on Saturday 5th August, supported by Skipton BID. Performances will include ‘Penny and the Far Thing’ by Lempen Puppet Theatre, ‘Festival!’ by Mark Whitaker Puppetry and ‘The Four Friends’ by Zannie Fraser.
Audiences at the canal basin will get the opportunity to meet ‘Zarafa Giraffa’. Over ten weeks in Spring, this full-size giraffe puppet walked 1000km through France, recreating the journey of a real giraffe from 200 years ago. Now, she’s coming to Skipton to be fitted with a new outer skin and decorated. Visitors are invited to help paint her, then join a procession round town to show off her fresh paint job!
Attendees through the week will be treated to an array of captivating shows in the Skipton Town Hall concert hall including:
- Snip Snap! Rapunzel Retold’ - full of humour, magic and surprising costume transformations, the show reimagines the familiar with enchanting original imagery and playful glove puppets.
- ‘Dragon’ by Life & Limb Puppets is a visually stunning, fantasy-genre puppetry show mixing cutting- edge projection and digital animation with beautiful live puppetry, performed by a cast of 3 to a soaring original score.
- ‘Anansi & the Lost Sun’ by Swallow's Wing Puppetry celebrates African & Caribbean culture, with the aim to enchant, entertain, educate, and build cross-generational dialogue.
- ‘To Have Or Not To Have’ by TAMTAM Objektentheater is a rusty fairy tale full of beautiful images with undeniable elements of the spaghetti-western, a shot of Shakespeare and a generous dose of subtle humour.
- Teach Rex presents ‘A Dragon’s Tale’, an interactive, nail-biting tale about bravery! The show has been created by teachers to inspire young minds. Beware… the Teach Rex Dinosaurs will be left to run loose around Skipton on Friday 4th August! Get ready for a thrilling adventure as these life-sized creatures roam the streets. Witness their incredible presence and learn fascinating facts about dinosaurs.
A range of interactive workshops will also be on offer. Dogs&Dales will be hosting a ‘Large Mascot Puppet Head Making Workshop’ and a ‘Musical Song Making Workshop’, Swallow's Wing Puppetry will host a ‘Rooster Puppet Workshop’, Life & Limb Puppets will run a ‘Dragon Workshop’ and Skipton Town Hall will hold puppet themed editions of Art Club and Craven Museum Make & Take free family crafts.
The festival takes place from 2nd to 6th August 2023. Find more information and book tickets at skiptontownhall.co.uk
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