HitMan Puppet headlines festival

Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival returns

From 11 - 13 October, Tunbridge Wells will be filled with puppetry in all its forms when the third biennial Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival returns to the town.

This year, the festival is bringing Mikey, AKA The Ghost, to town. Breaking Bad meets Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, The Hit is a black comedy for one puppet with obsessive compulsive disorder.

The Kent-based puppet theatre company behind him, Strangeface, took home five stars at last year’s Edinburgh Festival.

The three-day festival brings an even bigger and more varied programme with a real international flavour, a rare chance for the Kent community and visitors to the area to catch some of the best puppetry companies and street theatre right on their doorstep.

This colourful celebration of live performance and creativity is back with a buzzing three days of ticketed and free shows, talks, an exhibition, workshops and street theatre from local, national and international artists, many performing in the UK for the first time. Expect an even bigger and more varied line-up, with funny, touching and thought-provoking performances taking place at venues across the town centre. Covering everything from flying kites and giant trees, to Moomins, Snarks and aerial acrobatics, there’s something for everyone.

As one of only five puppetry festivals in England, Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival has continued to grow in size and popularity since it began back in 2015, building Kent’s reputation as a centre for puppetry excellence. With funding from Arts Council England, Royal Tunbridge Wells Together, Kent County Council and with collaboration from the Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of The Spanish Embassy, this year’s festival is also being supported by the generosity of many local community organisations and businesses.

Visitwww.twpuppetryfestival.org to see the full programme and to book. Tickets start at just £5. All the outdoor shows and street theatre happening on The Pantiles and at the Millennium Clock are free.