The Turku International Puppetry Festival starts 15th November, the third edition of an intimate annual festival of visual theatre whose aim it is to brighten up the dark Finnish November days. Click here to see the programme.

An international festival not only brings something new to a town’s audiences but is also a valuable experience for the artists, especially if – like at the TIP-Fest – they are given a free pass to see each other’s shows.

It was performing in international festivals (as part of Norwich Puppet Theatre in the 90s) that opened my eyes to the possibilities of my own art form.  It was so interesting to meet puppeteers from other countries and discover people with different aesthetics and ways of performing.

And it made me realise that there is no one way to be a puppeteer.

What Is A Puppeteer? will be the subject of the next few posts but in the meantime, for those of you who can get to Turku, I wish you a good TIP-Fest. I’m sorry to miss it this year.