Skipton’s third international puppet festival has been hailed a success – with every performance being a sell-out.

The festival, held over the weekend, attracted visitors from across the country and artistes from as far afield as Russia.

“It was amazing,” said organiser Liz Lempen, of Skipton-based Lempen Puppets.

“The town was heaving and we sold five tickets more than the 2,400 that had been allocated. Everything went off brilliantly.”

The canal basin was the main focus of attention, with one street performance by Belgium-based Plansjet drawing a crowd of around 300.

Another highlight was a performance of the Ugly Duckling by St Petersburg-based Brodyachaya Sobachka.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” said Mrs Lempen.

In all, there were about 30 artistes who performed at various venues in the town, with further performances at the Victoria Hall, Settle, and the Rainhall Centre, Barnoldswick.

But Mrs Lempen said more support would be needed if another festival was to be held, as planned, in 2011.

“This year’s festival was 20 to 30 per cent bigger than the one in 2007 and we just can’t cope on our own. We can put together the programme and promote the festival, but we need some professional help in actually delivering it.

“We don’t necessarily want to make it bigger, but it would be better if we could spread out more and perhaps close the High Street. It has been described as Britain’s cosiest festival and that is one part of its character that we want to maintain.

“It is basically a local festival for local people, so we need to make sure it is what Skipton wants. We will now go away and digest what has happened and see how the festival can be improved.”

Mrs Lempen said the festival was also dependent on sponsorship. “The money is hugely important,” she said. “I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us, particularly our main sponsor, Skipton Building Society, and all our other sponsors.”