UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette) the international puppet organization representing over seventy countries will hold its board meeting in Almonte during the Puppets Up! festival on August 6 and 7
Manuel Moranis founder and Artistic Director of the Society of Educational Arts Inc. (SEA) and head of the Teatro Teatro SEA – Los Kabagitos Puppet and Childrens Theatre in New York City will chair the meeting. He has been working in professional theatre. and television as a performer. writer, director and producer in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the United States. Among the attendees will be Oscar and Laura Guarduno from Leon, Guanajusto, Mexico: Oscar is president of UNIMA Mexico, Montreal's Jacques Trudeau, Secretary-General of UNIMA throughout the world and President of UNIMA CANADA, Karen Smith of Los Angeles President of UNIMA USA, Claudia Orenstein – Professor of Theatre at Hunter College, City University of New York and board member of UNIMA USA, and Kingston Ontario puppet performer and musician David Smith, Vice President of UNIMA CANADA and Past President of the Ontario Puppetry Association.
UNIMA's objective is to promote the development of the art of puppetry in North America by creating opportunities for exchanges and encounters between puppeteers, puppet companies, producers and festivals in Canada, United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.