Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival returns for its tenth year
October 29, 2013 (Mississippi Mills) – Its official, Puppet’s Up! International Puppet Festival will be back on Mill Street in beautiful downtown Almonte for their tenth year on August 9 and 10, 2014. This little festival that could has grown to be a summer standout and a must attend family event. Year ten will be no exception!
Puppets Up! began earnestly in 2004 under the watchful and talented eye of Noreen Young. A puppeteer herself (Under the Umbrella Tree), puppet designer and builder, writer and producer, and Order of Canada recipient, Noreen knows puppets and, more importantly, puppeteers. Her dogged determination and quasi stardom has made finding performers for the last nine years a lot easier. In fact, this year the festival will host our first Italian puppeteer, who found us online.
“We have big plans for the tenth birthday of the festival,” says Noreen Young. “Think candles, balloons, party hats and puppets popping out of birthday cakes. We are throwing a huge birthday party next summer and want to extend the invitation to you and your family to join us in a celebration of all things puppets and fun!”
We will be inviting some old friends and fan favorites back to help us celebrate. The VIP puppeteer guest list includes our dear friends from Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers (Maine) and Rag and Bone Puppet Theatre (Ottawa), as well as new friend Freddie Rivas (Toronto) who recently won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Live Show. Of course the party would not be complete without the Birthday Boy — Nick. With his party hat and dancing shoes on, Nick will again be front and centre for all the festivities.
It is going to be a year of celebration and, in keeping with the party theme, we may have some other great opportunities to have some fun with the puppets. Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter so you can be the first to know what we have up our sleeves.
The festival relies on the kindness and generosity of a variety of sponsors, angels and granting agencies to sustain itself. We are always interested in discussing sponsorship opportunities with new businesses and would love to welcome them to the Puppets Up! family. If you are interested in donating, volunteering or sponsoring the festival, email info@puppetsup.ca .
The planning for our big weekend is underway and we are gearing up to welcome you all to the party. We look forward to seeing you in Almonte next August 2014 to join in the celebration.