Important puppet festivals in Czech Republic
Skupa’s Pilsen (Skupova Plzeň)
The festival Skupa´s Pilsen is in part a competitive showcase of selected Czech theatre productions and in part a presentation of Czech and puppet theatre for guests from abroad with the objective of supporting the export of Czech puppetry abroad.
The festival has taken place every year in Pilsen since 1967 and is organized by Alfa Theatre.
• www.skupovaplzen.cz
Mateřinka Festival
The Mateřinka Festival originated in 1972, when the first Czech national Festival of Professional Puppet Theatres with Performances for Pre-school Children was organised in Pilsen under this name. Now the festival is organized biennially at the Naïve Theatre in Liberec.
• http://www.naivnidivadlo.cz
Puppeteers’ Chrudim (Loutkářská Chrudim)
This festival of amateur puppetry has existed since 1952 and is the oldest festival of amateur puppet theatre in the world. It is organised by the Chrudim Society and NIPOS-ARTAMA.
• https://www.loutkarskachrudim.cz/ • www.nipos-mk.cz
One Flew over the Puppeteer’s Nest (Přelet na loutkářským hnízdem)
The annual showcase of Czech puppet theatres organized by the Czech UNIMA centre and the Society for the publication of Puppeteer magazine. The festival has been held since 1991 in Prague. The showcase’s grand prize is the ERIK, named after the famous Czech theatre artist Erik Kolár. This is the only prize in the Czech Republic awarded in the field of puppet theatre.
• http://www.prelet.cz
Spectaculo interesse
This international puppeteers’ festival has been held in Ostrava since 1995. The biennial festival is organized by Ostrava Puppet Theatre.
• http://www.dlo-ostrava.cz
Czech puppet festivals this year (2019)
18. 6. 2019 – 22. 6. 2019
Festival Mateřinka
29. 6. 2019 – 4. 7. 2019
68. loutkářská Chrudim
29. 9. 2019 – 4. 10. 2019
Spectaculo Interesse