Nashville's Puppet Festival Debuts at PL

Nashville Public Library (NPL) this month will host the city's inaugural International Puppet Festival: World on a String. NPL says it's the first library to host such a festival. The free three-day event, held June 20–22 at the downtown library and Church Street Park, will present world-class puppet troupes from Italy, France, Germany, and China, as well as U.S. practitioners. The gathering will also feature street performers and professional puppetry workshops.

NPL has a long puppet history, dating back to 1938, when Tom Tichenor began performing marionette shows at the downtown library. Continuing this tradition, NPL's own Wishing Chair Productions (WCP) will perform an adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. A selection of historic marionettes from the Tom Tichenor and Peeko Puppets collections at NPL will be exhibited in the Courtyard Gallery during the festival, which is presented through the support of the NPL Foundation.