Family Puppet Festival Day Recap
June 4, 2023
Here’s a recap of our Family Puppet Festival Day featuring our micro puppet show “Walter the Water Droplet”, water champion guests, puppet making and more.
Background:
WP Puppet Theatre produces the Puppet Power Arts Series which includes puppet pop ups, the International Festival of Ideas conference and family festival days, such as our Family Puppet Festival Day held on June 4th, 2023 at Highland Park Community Association. This is the second year WP Puppet Theatre has partnered with Highland Park Community Association to host a family-friendly, affordable, community event.
The Event:
The theme for this year’s festival day was water, and the festival was a scheduled event as part of Calgary’s 2023 Empathy Week.
The festival day featured:
- “Walter the Water Droplet”, a micro puppet show
- Puppet making stations
- Information and displays on water stewardship, hosted by partner agencies
- Spring Sale, a puppet yard sale of crafting materials, kits and puppets
- Face Painting
- The YYC Library Book Truck
- Special Guest: Empathy Week
The Puppet Show:
“Walter the Water Droplet” cycles through the water phases of liquid, solid and vapour as well as going through the inside of a cow, freezer, a sewer and more. A micro puppet show, 20 minutes long, with lots of laughs and a lively soundtrack! The show was offered in three seatings, 2:30pm, 3:30pm and 4:30pm to allow guests to come and go as they’d like throughout the day and enjoy the rest of the festival before or after at their leisure.
“The show was so much fun, my little boy went in twice!” – Festival participant
Community Connection:
As part of our commitment to accessibility and to connect with our community, we accepted Calgary Recreation Cards and offered 65 free tickets to organizations that distribute tickets to deserving and underprivileged families within the city. These included:
- Kids Up Front Calgary
- Ronald McDonald House
- Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association
- Kindred Connections
Leading up to the festival, Barb English, Workshop Facilitator at WP Puppet Theatre, engaged the grade twos and fives at Buchanan School in a puppetry workshop discussing the water cycle as it relates to their curriculum. The students provided drawings and video snippets on why we should care for water, which were displayed at the festival day.
Local water resource / water stewardship agencies were engaged to partner with WP Puppet Theatre to promote water conservation. Joining WP Puppet Theatre were:
- Alberta Low Impact Development Program – Rain Gardens
- Calgary River Valleys Organization
- Green Calgary
- Trout Unlimited – Native Trout Foundation
Call to Action:
This year’s festival focused on water, and why we should care for the water sources we have on our planet. Partnering with the Buchanan School children in grade two and five allowed us to display their creative work to a larger audience at the festival. Our partner agencies brought interactive displays, offered tours of the rain garden located outside Highland Park Community Association, and shared conservation and stewardship information and ideas with our audience.
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To book “Walter the Water Droplet” for your own event check here.
BELOW: Sumeet Singh, SAIT journalism student, article about the day!
WP Puppet Theatre: From a childhood gift to professional puppeteering