Northeast Regional Festival: Puppet Homecoming

Ithaca, NY Nov. 1-3, 2024

Puppet Homecoming is a bi-annual festival of puppet arts, with shows and workshops for all ages. 

The festival runs from Nov 1 - 3. The first event will be on Friday Nov 1 at 4pm and the final event will end by 5pm on Sunday Nov 3. In addition, there will be a day for Puppetry in Education and Therapy on Monday Nov 4th. This is an optional extra day of presentations. 

All events will happen within walking distance of the Ithaca Commons. 

How does it work?

On Aug 1st Registration is open. When you register for the full festival you get a pass to see all the shows in the line-up. You also get entry into workshops on Saturday and Sunday mornings. When you register, you get to choose which workshops you want to attend. Workshop spaces are limited, so the sooner you sign up, the more chance you have of getting your desired choice. 

Check here August 1st for a link to register!

What if I don’t want to register for the whole festival? 

On Saturday Nov 2, there will be a bunch of free public shows on The Commons from 4-7pm! There will also be a puppet exhibit at The History Center, and a Puppet Arts Market at Center Ithaca. You can also join our puppet parade on Sunday Nov 3 at 1:30pm on The Commons. 

Individual tickets to shows and workshops will go on sale separately on October 18th if spaces are still available. 

What fabulous shows will you see at the festival?

   

Still Life by Matt Sandbank

Funded in part by the Puppeteers of America Rose Endowment and featured at the National Puppetry Festival, Still Life is a collection of wordless shadow shorts that surprises and delights audiences with visual storytelling!

    Ages 10 and up.

Creatures of Yes Film Premiere and Talk Back by Jacob Graham. 

Details TBA.

Puppet Runway by Lilypad Puppet Theatre and Friends

Puppet Runway is a fashion show inspired by the art of puppetry and a puppet show inspired by fashion! We collaborate with puppeteers, puppet builders, fashion artists, actors and musicians to create this unique variety show! In this show, human models will wear clothing that will come alive. Puppets and humans will come together to create something that has never been done before. Surprising birds, dancing cats, talking boots…lots of surprises!

Wordplay by Goodhearted Entertainment

"Word Play" uses clowning and puppetry to take audiences on an adventure through the alphabet. Words come to life in the hands of two skilled performers, who clown around with sounds and letters to create dozens of interactive characters and imaginative scenes. Audiences can make friends with vowels, teach tricks to a “C-A-T” and “D-O-G,” and visit a whole ZOO full of surprises. It’s the perfect blend of education and entertainment—a play on words, literally!

MAKEorBREAK by Laurencio Carlos Ruiz

MAKEorBREAK is the story of a Wailing Mother who oversees the madness and horrors of war and gun culture. She is fed up with losing her children to gun violence inflicted by the everlasting Boneheaded Beast. Determined to stop him, she devises an unexpected strategy in pursuit of peace for one and all. Without spoken words, MakeorBreak’s lyricism is created by the combination of visual language, physical movement, body language, ephemeral puppetry, sound, song and music. All characters are inspired by Picasso's Gernica to express the outrage over our current history of ‘war’ at home and abroad, and the culture of guns and mass killings.

Colab Story and Kitty's Corner by String Theory Theater

A double feature from String Theory Theater! In Kitty's Corner kitty and puppy put on a talk show with a line up of special guests, including The Moon, a toothbrush, and a roll of toilet paper! In Colab story, two board kids take a trip into their imagination. Both shows are for all ages.

Epidermis Circus by snafu

A spicy puppet cabaret, hosted by a sassy grandma who keeps trying to steal the show. This beautifully twisted variety show is performed by Ingrid Hansen, who also puppeteers for Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock. Watch behind-the-scenes as Hansen performs a live puppet film, animating cheeky vignettes in the palm of her hand and projecting them onto a huge screen.

An “enormously entertaining, one-hour madcap vaudeville show. It is chock full of riotous, naughty, and mystifying vignettes using her bare hands, her face, her mouth, tiny toys, and a doll’s head. Hansen's hands-in-motion have the kind of presence that is often attributed to the greatest stage performers -- transfixing the audience, and creating pin-drop silence interspersed with spontaneous bursts of laughter.” - Culture Catch NYC

Puppet Slam!

See the best in short form puppetry. Hosted by Toybox the Cartoon Witch. Intended for adults.

See what goes on at the Galaxy Laundromat, meet the Grim Weeper, experience the perils of online dating and so much more! 

Puppet Parade!

Join us for a parade and dance party through the Ithaca commons, a pedestrian street in downtown Ithaca. Bring your puppet, or make a parade puppet in the "Parade Puppets for Your Community" workshop, and then join the fun! 

FREE Outdoor Busking Performances!

Puppeteers will take over downtown Ithaca to perform free public shows in various locations. See the Marionettes of Madison Cripps, The Yeti Village of Paperheart Puppets, Puppeteers and clowns Keith Schubert and Honey Goodenough, and attend a puppet tea party with Robin Polfuss.

FAQ:

Where will shows and workshops be located?

All events will happen within walking distance of the Ithaca Commons.  The Commons is a four-block pedestrian area jam-packed with more than 100 independently owned and operated shops and boutiques, gift shops, restaurants, art galleries, service providers, street vendors, and entertainers.

Venues include:

Community School of Music and Arts -  330 E State St, Ithaca, NY 14850 

Cinemapolis - 120 E Green St, Ithaca, NY 14850

Circus Culture - 116 W Green St, Ithaca, NY 14850

Center Ithaca - 171 E. State St., Downtown Ithaca, NY 14850 (on The Commons)

Where can I stay when attending the festival?

Information about hotel deals for the festival can be found on the registration site. 

Apply to volunteer or present at the

Puppetry in Education and Therapy Day

This program is made possible (in part) with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and NYS Legislature, administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.

This program was also made possible in part by a grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program.