I didn't have the chance to see quite as many of the shows at the festival as I would have liked, but there are a few things I got to see that were just fantastic.
My favorite performance at the festival was presented by a Quebecois troupe called "Les Sages Fous". They did a night time street performance called "Bizzarium Aquarium". It was an incredibly inventive show that revolved around a large boat. The two puppeteers proceeded to "dive" into the pavement and discover a whole world of underwater creatures. There were aspects of the performance that incorporated mime and clown and a variety of styles of puppetry. You can see photos of the show on their official website here. If you ever have the chance to see "Le Sages Fous" I would highly recommend it.
Most of my time at the festival was spent on the balcony. This balcony was essentially a scaffolding mounted on a street corner and dressed to look like a balcony. The puppeteers were hidden within the contraption, equipped with mics and puppets we would more-or-less heckle the passers-by. It was great fun to interact with and poke fun at festival attendees of all ages!
Here are some pictures that show what I'm talking about! Puppeteers Jessica Fitzpatrick and Allen Martin perform a camel and a goldfish puppet.
The whole balcony crew was 5 puppeteers strong so there were lots of fun combinations of characters to see on the balcony.
Amidst all the puppet action that was going on in Almonte last weekend I also had a moment to chat with Steve Swanson. Steve hosts an awesome podcast called The Muppet Cast. He does a really wonderful job covering all things Muppets and Puppet for that matter. He has covered the festival previous years and I was more then happy to bring him a report right from the heart of the action for the 2009 edition. You can find the interview in Episode #122 of the Muppetcast, downloadable here or on iTunes.
Enjoy!
