More than 20 of the best European ensemble groups will gather in Zagreb between August 29th and September 4th to compete in the 42nd annual International Puppet Festival.

Staged in the exquisite theatres and streets of the Croatian capital city, the puppetry festival will offer spectators enchanting performances set against words and music in which the puppets seem almost alive, special seminars on how to make and operate puppets, animation displays as well as a number of exhibitions, book promotions, lectures and discussion panels.

The central theme of this year’s Festival is the string puppet. Some of this year’s plays will, accordingly, be performed in this technique: the Croatian “Little Fairy” (by the Split City Puppet Theatre) and “Rags and Yarns” (by the Puppet Studio Association “Rags and Yarns“ from Varazdin), the Italian “Variety Show” (by the Teatro Stabile del Friuli from Trieste) and “Ruggiero of the White Eagle” (by the Figli d`arte Cuticchio Association from Palermo), and the Slovenian “Doctor Faustus” (by the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre).

The Mimara Museum will host an exhibition entitled “Life on a string“, created by Michael Meschke, which will include some 20 string puppets from the museum collection of the Marionett Museum Foundation from Stockholm, Sweden. This world-renowned puppeteer, director, teacher and writer will hold a lecture on these puppets, present their history and moderate a discussion about string puppets.

Since its inception in 1967 the festival has been open to all forms of expression in puppetry, showcasing the most cutting edge experimentation alongside traditional art forms of past performers.

The International Puppet Festival is one of the world's foremost puppetry festivals and the performances will appeal to both children and adults, fascinated by the ancient and captivating art of puppetry.

For details and programme info visit Festival's website