THIS coming weekend, July 10 and 11, will see the second instalment of a slimmed down catalogue of events for Skipton Puppet Festival 2021 which comprises six weekends of puppet activity in Skipton from June to November 2021.

The programme for this Saturday will run from 11am until 4.30pm and will feature a trio of bicycle shows and walkabouts at Skipton canal basin.

The first show, ‘The Fisher and his Wife’, is a traditional Brothers Grimm tale told from a penny farthing by Skipton company Lempen Puppet Theatre. The second, ‘Special delivery’, a charming and surprising story without words from a postman’s delivery bike. Finally, ‘The Puppet Pedlar’s’ cargo bike features three different and crazy, interactive be-spoke tales for young children and families. Walkabouts include, ‘A Swoop of Swallows,’ Skipton’s own ‘Giant Swaledales’, and a special guest on her first outing created by Sheila Godbolt with Craven Arts.

All activities at the Canal Basin are free, but donations to support the festival are welcome.

On Sunday the first indoor performance of the puppet festival and the premier performance of Lempen Puppet Theatre’s new show Flotsam & Jetsam will take place at Skipton Town Hall.

“We put ourselves in to the first programme slot as the local company because we would be most flexible to adjust if the unpredictable Covid restrictions caused a cancellation,”said Liz Lempen who is also one of the festival directors.

“As it has happened this also turns out to be the premier of our new show, as all planned performances prior to this have had to be cancelled or postponed. It’s very special for us for a number of reasons. We are able to work again after about 18 months of very little performance work. During this time we have developed our first production where Daniel and I perform together again after about 20 years of only solo performances.”

Liz and Daniel Lempen have run Lempen Puppet Theatre Company since 1988, touring all over the UK and abroad with their original productions.

The festival is grant supported by a National Lottery award through Arts Council England with seed funding from Skipton BID.

More information about performances and other festival activities can be found on the website: www.skiptonpuppetfestival.co.uk

To book a tickets for the indoor shows and workshops visit Skipton Town Hall website, www.skiptontownhall.co.uk

See updates on the Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/skiptonpuppetfestival