From: Evy500-AT-aol.com Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 01:27:00 EDT Subject: PUPT: Exposing Ourselves to the Public It's true, the public was not able to see shows at the National festival, but anyone can buy tickets to the Henson festival. One of my favorite things about the Seattle festival, however, was the very public Giant Puppet Parade on Friday afternoon. (Wish I could have fit my giant puppets into my suitcase, don'tchaknow.) First of all, you have to realize that the University of Washington campus was absolutely beautiful and that the weather cooperated better than I'm sure the organizers of the parade could have hoped for. I hope that somebody posts pictures of this event, because it truly was a feast for the eyes. The parade started at the student union and traveled around the campus to the "quad." Lots of lucky Seattlites watched and cheered. The giant puppets included: two birds, several colorful people, a skeleton, and many more that I can't remember at 1:00 AM. They were accompanied by stilt walkers, dancers, guild banners, children, puppets, and of course HRH Bernice, Queen of Pot Pourri, in her royal chariot! (Did ANYONE get out of the festival without bending down to kiss the Queen on the forehead?) But, most enjoyable for me was the music. The Festival of the Millennium band jammed from one end of campus to the other, and Sogolon, the fantastic puppet/dance/drumming group from Mali, Africa, treated us to an encore of their contagious rhythms and their giant puppets. You would not believe how much dancing inside of a giant puppet can be done without crashing into things by these guys! There was even a puppet costume with drums built into the "belly." The parade culminated in a big circle at the Punch and Judy Faire, a smorgasbord of Punch and Judy shows all with lawn seats. Interspersed on the lawn was the flea market where festival participants and the general public could buy all sorts of puppet goodies, some of which were puppetry store items sold at a discount for those of us who either held out or were impossibly indecisive. (I saved $5 on a great T-shirt from the Phoenix Puppetry Guild - it's bright yellow and says "Puppeteer" on the back. They come in all sorts of colors and you can order them from the guild!) Business was brisk, according to one saleswoman who told me that she split the $25 table fee with another puppeteer. They completely sold out and each made over $200.00. The whole afternoon was incredible fun and the public ADDED to the atmosphere. Three cheers to whomever came up with this idea in the first place. Evy --- Personal replies to: Evy500-AT-aol.com --- List replies to: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
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