Northern California Puppet Festival
The S. F. Bay Area Puppeteers Guild is excited to host the Northern California Puppet Festival, a dynamic and diverse two-day program of shows and workshops on August 2-3, 2024, at the Sonoma Community Center. Puppeteers, enthusiasts, educators, and friends will gather to celebrate the puppetry arts and mark the 70th Anniversary, when a small puppet club started in the Bay Area, which then became our Puppet Guild. More details can be found at https://sonomacommunitycenter.org/events/puppet-festival.
“This is a unique opportunity for people to explore the fun and very accessible art of puppetry,” commented Lee Armstrong, Guild President. “We have an amazing lineup of shows and inspiring workshops. I got my start in puppetry from attending a Puppet Festival, which led to work on the original Henson’s “Fraggle Rock,” PBS shows, movies and more. It’s a fun job!” Check it out at the very inviting Sonoma Community Center.
The Puppet Festival will feature six performances, including five family-friendly shows and a Puppet Slam for teens and adults:
Friday shows include:
- 10 AM “Personal Space” by Stinky Tales
- 4 PM “Carnival of Animals” by Fratello Marionettes
- 7 PM “Los Animalitos” by Magical Moonshine Theatre
Sat shows include:
- 10 AM “Tommy’s Space Adventure” by Puppet Art Theater
- 4 pm “The Green Parrot” by Oregon Shadow Theatre
- 7 pm “Forbidden Cabaret” Puppet Slam
“Los Animalitos” won the Golden Apple of Kazakhstan and “The Green Parrot” performers have won 3 UNIMA USA awards. Both shows are influenced by Hispanic culture. “Carnival of Animals” showcases marionettes. “Tommy’s Space Adventure” incorporates digital effects with rod and other puppets, and “Personal Space” offers a social-emotional learning (SEL) experience for children, ages 3 to 8, and parents. The festival culminates with the avant-garde “Forbidden Cabaret” Puppet Slam for teens and adults, sponsored in part by Heather Henson’s foundation.
Friday features a special Educators Day workshop track for teachers, librarians, and youth group leaders with demos and projects to introduce puppetry to children. Other workshops include unique opportunities like “TV Puppetry” led by Swazzle (credits: Pee-wee Herman Show, Comedy Central’s Crank Yankers, The Muppets) and the “Social Media for Puppeteers” workshop by Grant Baciocco (credits: The Muppets, Earth To Ned, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and over 3 million TikTok followers). And the “Build a Monster Puppet” workshop, led by teens for teens (but ages 9+ and adults welcome). Other workshops cover storytelling with puppets, performance techniques, puppet mechanisms, shadow puppets, building tiny to giant puppets, improv for puppeteers and more!
Additional activities include: On Friday, a free family puppet build after the 10 am show, a puppet parade at 9:30 am on Saturday from the Plaza to the Sonoma Community Center for the 10 am show, a Puppet Store with puppets and related items for sale, and a Puppet Exhibit showcasing rare and amazing puppets.
Come join us for a weekend of creativity, learning, and fun as we celebrate the enchanting world of puppetry!
