McGroarty Arts Center is gearing up for its 8th Annual Celebrate Puppetry Festival to take place on Saturday, June 4, 2011 from 4 to 9 PM. This one-day annual event is incredibly fun, colorful, and family-friendly. The day provides an opportunity for children of all ages to nurture their imaginations and playfulness with an exploration of everything puppetry! This truly is a celebration.

At the Festival you can enjoy the performances of professional puppeteers, try your hand at making a puppet, tour the historic 1923 McGroarty home, eat, shop, or just sit back and enjoy the festival atmosphere. McGroarty Arts Center Executive Director, Claire Knowlton comments on the exceptional experience of the Celebrate Puppetry Festival, “There is no other festival in Southern California solely devoted to the art of puppetry. Watching kids encounter giant puppets on stilts, watching them learn to work their own marionette puppets – there is nothing like it.”

The fun begins before festival day with a series of workshops designed to provide the family with a close look at the art of puppetry and get everyone in the mood for the big outdoor festival day! Families with children ages 6 and up are welcome to attend any or all of these free hands-on workshops on three Sunday afternoons in May. Workshops are held indoors in the beautiful McGroarty home on Sundays May 15th, 22nd and 29th from 1-3PM.  Each workshop will have you making and working with a different kind of puppet. Please call McGroarty Arts Center (818-352-5285; M-F 10-6pm) to reserve your spot in the workshop(s) of your choice.

Pre-festival workshops also give children and parents a deeper context for the festival day performers: Falderal Festival, a marionette variety show presented by Douglas Seymore Marionettes; Johanna Smith and Johanna’s Puppet Petting Zoo; Mitch the Ventriloquist, starring the very funny Richard Mitchell and his talented comedy/ventriloquist show; and Animal Cracker Conspiracy, our favorite stilt characters and giant puppets who will be roaming the festival. Want to get involved and interact? Get on your feet with Rising Phoenix Morris Dance who will dance with you in between shows. Be sure to stay and enjoy the night under the stars watching "Ener-Chi", A Shadow Story of Survival, created by Maria Bodmann for the 2010 COLA grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs in the City of Los Angeles.

Performers from Animal Cracker Conspiracy excitedly explain, “We are continually fascinated by the intersection and overlap of science, art, performance, and ritual which unfolds in the presence of stiltwalkers and giant puppets. These types of moving sculptural representation are a common thread found the world over in contexts of religious parades, political activism, annual seasonal festivals, theatre, ceremony, ancient rituals, and tribal customs. We love the synergy between the audience and our larger-than-life characters when they come alive through animation.”

McGroarty Arts Center is dedicated to providing free, high quality creative experiences in the arts. The Celebrate Puppetry Festival and related events promote understanding and respect for varied cultures through experience and involvement. McGroarty and Artist/Performer/Producer Maria Bodmann aim to raise the status of the puppetry art form in the United States and to make the general public more aware of this multi-dimensional medium that melds fine art and theater, music and writing, dance and movement, and in the process gives greater context to each. Puppetry is an art form that goes beyond age, culture, ethnicity, language, and education. It can communicate on many levels at once.

The Puppetry Festival is supported in part by an Outdoor Parade and Festivals Grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. For more information about how you can participate in the Celebrate Puppetry Festival or about any of McGroarty Arts Center’s visual and performing arts classes and programs, please contact the Center at 818-352-5285 or www.mcgroartyartscenter.org.