March News from British UNIMA | World Puppetry Day, International Voices & New Opportunities
Celebrating World Puppetry Day 2026 with global events, British UNIMA talks from Liz Lempen, Sue Buckmaster and Beth Timmins, plus opportunities, festivals and news from the puppetry community.
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Dear British UNIMA Members and Friends,
March is the month in which we celebrate World Puppetry Day. In a world marked with strife and conflict, activities designed to bring people together through the arts are always welcome. Our activities continue with a series of events on world puppetry day itself - see below for more details.
UNIMA International is hosting a 24 - hour drop in friendship café for all UNIMA members - anyone is welcome to drop in, meet other puppeteers or puppetry enthusiasts, exchange ideas and find out information. The friendship café will be hosted by the Executive Committee throughout the 24 hours, highlighting that UNIMA is a global organisation focused on linking people across the world and promoting the art of puppetry.
The person chosen to deliver the UNIMA message for World Puppetry Day this year is the Master Malian puppeteer Yaya Coulibaly.
There will be other activities throughout the day on World Puppetry Day; see the UNIMA International website for information: www.unima.org
British UNIMA – World Puppetry Day Events
Within British UNIMA, we are hosting and co-hosting a series of online events for World Puppetry Day 2026.
🗓 21 March 2026
🕓 16:00–16:20 (UK time)
Welcome to UNIMA — two special presentations for World Puppetry Day by Liz Lempen (Lempen Puppets) and Sue Buckmaster (Theatre Rites).
🕓 16:20–16:45 (UK time)
Beth Timmins (BBC) will speak about Ukrainian puppetry during wartime, exploring how puppetry continues to support storytelling and cultural expression in difficult circumstances.
16h45 - 17h30 British UNIMA members are invited to join the Nuts and Bolts session - see below!
We’re also inviting you to start sharing your celebrations and the official materials across your networks!
How to take part:
✔ Share your events and activities
✔ Tag @britishunima and @unimainternational
✔ Use #WPD2026 #UNIMA
✔ Add #WorldPuppetryDay2026
UNIMA will reshare posts on 21 March and compile a global video celebrating activity worldwide.
ForesTEEN – Online Open Stage Festival
📅 24 March 2026
🕕 18:00 CET (17:00 UK time)
📍 Online (Zoom)
ForesTEEN is hosting a new Online Open Stage Festival, a digital meeting space where teenagers and young adults (ages 14–27) from across Europe can share their artistic ideas, performances and inspirations.
The event offers an opportunity for young artists to present work and connect internationally, while cultural professionals can observe emerging trends and engage with new voices in youth arts.
Young people aged 15–25 may also be interested in the ForesTEEN EU Passport, which supports travel to partner festivals across Europe by reimbursing travel costs, with accommodation provided by the host festival.
Other Events & Opportunities
The 2026 Méliscènes Festival returns to the town of Auray and surrounding communities in Brittany from 7–21 March 2026.
📅 Now on until 21 March 2026
🔗More info
ESNAM International Puppet Centre – Residency Programme 2026–2027
📍 Charleville-Mézières, France
📅 Applications open 9 March – 3 May 2026
👉 More info
Tit For Tat 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟: Touring & Development
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁: A Call To Artists
This is a free professional workshop, to widen our pool of known performers.
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Tit for Tat, Cato Street, Easton, BS5 6JL
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: Thursday 12th March or Saturday 14th March (vote!)
🔗More info
Artist Development 2026
Programmes for disabled creatives, and applications
📅 Deadline Friday 13 March at 5pm
🔗More info
Autin Dance Theatre one-day professional training in multi-operator giant puppetry.
🗓 Wed 25 Mar 2026, 10:00am–5:00pm
(Studio open from 9:30am for individual warm-up)
Location: Our home, The Daimler Powerhouse, Sandy Lane Business Park, Sandy Lane, Coventry, CV1 4DQ
🔗More info
Jimmy Grimes - Puppetry Performance Workshop (Online)
🗓 24th, 26th & 28th March afternoons and evenings
🗓 31st March, 2nd & 4th April afternoons and evenings
🕓 4:00–5:30pm 💻 online
👉 More info
All-Ukrainian online festival “Premieres of a season” 2026 Broadcasts
📅Every Saturday and Sunday until March 15, 2026 at 16:00 (EET).
📺 Watch on YouTube: UNIMA-UKRAINE YouTube Channel
Work Experience at Plunge: A Hands-On Dive Into Creative Magic
📅 Applications for our 2026 programme are now open!
Placements run from May to September 2026 and are generally for 1 to 2 weeks.
To apply, please complete this application form.
Nuts & Bolts Lounge — World Puppetry Day Special
🗓 Saturday 21 March 2026
🕓 4:00–5:30pm
💻 Free & online
👉 More info
Strings Attached The Art of Puppetry in Ditchling
Ditchling Museum, East Sussex, BN6 8SP.
🗓Saturday 28 March – Sunday 27 September 2026
👉 More info
Moving Parts Arts - Animator & Puppet Filmmakers Mixer Social
🗓Tuesday 1 April 2026
👉 More info
Spring Courses with Moving Parts Arts
🗓6 - 11 April
👉 More info
7-day Marionette Making Course with Stephen Mottram
🗓7–13 April 2026 · Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
👉More info
Puppet Building Office Hours with Alex Vernon
🗓Sunday, April 12th at 2pm est via Zoom
👉 More info
UNIMA Online session: Audience development methods in the context of international puppet theatre festivals
📅 21 April 2026 🕐 Time: 14:30 CET
🌐 Language: English ⏱️ Duration: Approx. 120 minutes
More info
Webinar: Applied Puppetry: Critical Thinking and Action for Peace
📅 22 April 2026 🕐 Time: 15:00 CET
📺 Watch Live: UNIMA’s Youtube channel
✉️ Register: appliedpuppetry@unima.org
👉 More info
ERASMUS+ Exchange at ESNAM – National Higher School of Puppet Arts
📍 Charleville-Mézières, France
The National Higher School of Puppet Arts – ESNAM welcomes students from European higher education institutions through the ERASMUS+ exchange programme.
📅 Application deadlines
• 30 April – September–January semester
• 30 October – February–June semester
👉 More info
Puppetry Residency in Greece
📅 Application deadlines 9 July 2026
👉 More info
OPEN CALLS
Toyooka Theater Festival 2026 · Fringe Open Call
Toyooka, Japan · September 18-27, 2026
⏰ Deadline: April 1, 2026 · 9:00 AM JST
🔗 toyooka-theaterfestival.jp/fringe-opencall2026
📩 fringe@toyooka-theaterfestival.jp
The Big One Hundred project are looking to hire Performers
🗓Application Deadline: 9am Friday 10th April
👉 More info
Call for artists 2026 Lugano International Puppet Festival
🗓The Open Call is active from March 1st to April 30th
👉 More info
4th International Theatre Festival 2026
The Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Jatiya Kabi Kazi National Islam University.
🗓 Submission Deadline: 1 May 2026
Festival Dates 4 - 11 July 2026
Email: maheditanjir@jkkniu.edu.bd
👉 More info
Exhibiting Puppets on 11 October 2026
🗓Deadline for submissions 15 June 2026
👉More info
Charleville-Mézières World Puppet Theatre Festival – Programming Update
The Charleville-Mézières World Puppet Theatre Festival will no longer run its traditional open call for show submissions starting with the 2027 edition.
Artists wishing to share work with the programming team can send materials to:
📧 programmation2027@marionnette.com
The festival programme focuses primarily on new works created within the previous two years, presenting an international snapshot of contemporary puppetry.
👉 More info
📢 Open Call for Museums & Collections
Questionnaire for the Directory of Puppet Museums and Puppet Collections
🎭 Organized by: UNIMA International Heritage Commission
📝 Complete the questionnaire: Fill out the form
✉️ Contact: heritage@unima.org
Supporting British UNIMA
We’re thrilled to have reached over 200 paid members of BrUNIMA, a wonderful milestone for our community. Thank you to everyone who has chosen to support the organisation and help strengthen the puppetry network in the UK.
If you’re able to support us, we’re grateful for help in any form:
• sharing opportunities and information we can add to our website, notebook, and social media
• getting involved as a volunteer. We’re always keen to hear from people interested in writing newsletters, reviewing shows, interviewing artists, or developing their social media and editorial skills
• making a donation to support our Penny Francis campaign
• upgrading to a paid membership, referring a friend, becoming a Friend, or even gifting a membership to someone else
Members who joined before April 2025 will receive a notification in the coming weeks as we complete the transition to our new membership platform. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact membership@brunima.org.uk.
Whether or not you’re in a position to upgrade right now, please know that we value all our readers and community members. Your presence, engagement, and sharing make a real difference.
Warm wishes,
British UNIMA