Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The National Capital Puppetry Guild (NCPG) presents The National Capital Puppetry Festival, the Guild’s inaugural puppetry festival! There’s something for everyone in the three action packed days over the weekend of August 21-23, 2020. This festival highlights the extraordinary talents of local puppeteers and international artists and promotes the education of puppetry arts through several workshops and panels. There are programs for children and families, for amateur and professional puppeteers, for educators, for theatergoers, and for the general public at large.
Performances include The National Capital Puppet Slam funded by Heather Henson and The Puppet Slam Network and hosted by DC Theater’s 2-time Jim Henson Foundation Grant recipients, Alex and Olmsted. From shadow puppetry to crankies, from shows in Spanish to pieces without words, this festival highlights the great depth and range of contemporary puppet theater. There will also be a free event for families, Saturday Morning Puppet Shows, a program that includes performances from all over the country and even one performance, “La Aventura del Pingüino,” from Mexico. La Aventura del Pingüino was written and directed by seven year-old Iñaki of Paradox Teatro, a piece which won the audience favorite prize for a national contest in Mexico of kiddos making theatre with their family during the pandemic.
The National Capital Puppetry Festival offers a broad range of workshops that cover all aspects of puppetry; from Puppetry 101 to toy theater, from shadow puppets to intellectual property. We are even hosting a workshop on Trauma and the Brain, especially valuable during these difficult times. In addition to these workshops, we will offer two outstanding panels run by puppetry professionals from around the country. There will be a Marketing Panel advising all aspects of puppet theater in an online world. There will be a Symposium on Puppetry and Social Justice #1: Healing our Brands. This will be a festival field trip co-presented by Puppeteers of America’s Edna Bland and UNIMA-USA's Dr. Paulette Richards.
REGISTRATION: The festival is free to National Capital Puppetry Guild members. It is $20 for an all-access pass that comes with a NCPG membership, and $25 for an all-access pass without a membership. For more information on registration and on our scheduled plan of virtual events visit our National Capital Puppetry Guild Facebook page or website:
nationalcapitalpuppetry.org/festivalschedule
The National Capital Puppetry Guild (NCPG) presents The National Capital Puppetry Festival, the Guild’s inaugural puppetry festival! There’s something for everyone in the three action packed days over the weekend of August 21-23, 2020. This festival highlights the extraordinary talents of local puppeteers and international artists and promotes the education of puppetry arts through several workshops and panels. There are programs for children and families, for amateur and professional puppeteers, for educators, for theatergoers, and for the general public at large.
Performances include The National Capital Puppet Slam funded by Heather Henson and The Puppet Slam Network and hosted by DC Theater’s 2-time Jim Henson Foundation Grant recipients, Alex and Olmsted. From shadow puppetry to crankies, from shows in Spanish to pieces without words, this festival highlights the great depth and range of contemporary puppet theater. There will also be a free event for families, Saturday Morning Puppet Shows, a program that includes performances from all over the country and even one performance, “La Aventura del Pingüino,” from Mexico. La Aventura del Pingüino was written and directed by seven year-old Iñaki of Paradox Teatro, a piece which won the audience favorite prize for a national contest in Mexico of kiddos making theatre with their family during the pandemic.
The National Capital Puppetry Festival offers a broad range of workshops that cover all aspects of puppetry; from Puppetry 101 to toy theater, from shadow puppets to intellectual property. We are even hosting a workshop on Trauma and the Brain, especially valuable during these difficult times. In addition to these workshops, we will offer two outstanding panels run by puppetry professionals from around the country. There will be a Marketing Panel advising all aspects of puppet theater in an online world. There will be a Symposium on Puppetry and Social Justice #1: Healing our Brands. This will be a festival field trip co-presented by Puppeteers of America’s Edna Bland and UNIMA-USA's Dr. Paulette Richards.
REGISTRATION: The festival is free to National Capital Puppetry Guild members. It is $20 for an all-access pass that comes with a NCPG membership, and $25 for an all-access pass without a membership. For more information on registration and on our scheduled plan of virtual events visit our National Capital Puppetry Guild Facebook page or website:
nationalcapitalpuppetry.org/festivalschedule
