Welcome to the 9th Beverley Puppet Festival - for the first time online!

 

The award-winning Beverley Puppet Festival usually fills the streets with excited onlookers. Giant creatures roam around Toll Gavel, Butcher Row and the Flemingate Centre; tiny, magical worlds are revealed to unsuspecting audiences in the Friary Gardens and indoor shows for all ages from 0-103 take place at The Friary, East Riding Theatre, Beverley Masonic Hall and Toll Gavel Church Hall. 

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This year however the Covid-19 pandemic faced us with the painful prospect of cancelling it all. Unthinkable! We have decided instead to go online! This is a new adventure for the festival team and one that now spans two months instead of just one weekend! Can you help us to spread the word to reach as many people as possible?  

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Live performances are very different from the medium of film, so this year the emphasis is on what we all can do at home, not on filming finished performances which we would prefer to see live.  We have commissioned three artists’ videos per week to start appearing from May 18th – July 12th to inspire and invite people of all ages to participate in a diverse range of puppetry-related activities that can be completed at home.  

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Our festival theme is BACK TO NATURE to which our artists will each bring their own unique interpretation and we encourage our audiences to do the same. The original stimulus for this theme is the current climate change crisis. Unless nature is respected, important eco-systems which are needed to support human survival will collapse. 

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The festival (even in this current format) would not be possible without the support of Arts Council England, East Riding of Yorkshire Council,  Molescroft Parish Council and the previous support of Beverley Arts Trust who helped us grow and flourish from 2006-2018.  

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Sending our best wishes to you and your families, 

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Anna Ingleby and Kerrin Tatman

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Founder & Co-Artistic Director / Co-Artistic Director