
Turku International Puppetry Festival, in short TIP-Fest is an annual international festival dedicated for puppetry. The festival celebrating and visual theatre is held in Turku, the puppetry capital of Finland.
TIP-Fest 2.-6.11.2022 – New Beginnings
This November the 13th edition of Turku International Puppetry Fest celebrates Aura of Puppets turning 10 years; a new decade brings new insights and processes for the puppetry professionals network. The festival gathers the latest and most interesting local performances on different stages in the city of Turku. Some of them are seen for the first time since many premieres as well as performances have been waiting their time during the pandemic: now they are to be released in the limelights and shared with the audience. After all it is the interaction with a live audience that finally brings a puppetry performance to life.
TIP-Fest celebrates a whopping six premiers: Nurinpäin kollektiivi’s Invisible, Antti-Juhani Manninen’s solo Ridiculousness, Tainaron by TEHDAS Theatre & Niina Lindroos, Jenni Rutanen & Co. Voyager and Theatre Qo’s Tea for Two and Obsession by Lee Lahikainen & co.
This year’s edition is also an international platform for Finnish puppetry performances. The programme consists of pieces that aim for touring around the world and most of the curated performances are without words or nearly wordless elaborate displays of visual theatre.
Festival tickets are now for sale!
Get yours from Holvi Web Shop!
Tickets for The Birds and Ridiculousness are sold from Turku city theatre
Tickets for Be My Querelle and Before Thumbelina are sold from Åbo Svenska Teater
Tainaron tickets from Tehdas Theatre
Photos from TIP-Fest 2022
Photos: Jesper Dolgov
Festival programme 2022

TIP-Fest performances

Lee Lahikainen & Co.: OBSESSION
Pakkomieliteko (Obsession) is a seven-minute miniature solo for an audience for one. This small performance made of paper and cardboard tells the story of a

Teatteri Qo: TEA FOR TWO
A short objec theatre performance where the tea is best served cold. “Tea for Two” is a short object theatre performance in which tea is

TEHDAS Teatteri & Niina Lindroos: THE UNMENTIONABLE
A solo toy theater* performance inspired by life and art of French photographer and painter Dora Maar (1907–1997). The starting point for the piece was

Anna Nekrassova & Co. Before Thumbelina
A visually stunning solo performance for adults about challenges, dreams and perseverance. I am a desert, full of tumbleweeds. No flowers, no rain. Fear crawls

Iwaoka – Lehtovaara – Malkki & AB Dance Company: DYSMORPHIC
A dark yet hopeful performance of dysmorphic body disorders. Three bodies. Foamed plastic. Microphone. Dysmorphic is created in collaboration between Aurinkobaletti and Aura of

TEHDAS Teatteri & Niina Lindroos: TAINARON
Tainaron is not a place, as you perhaps think. It is an event which no one measures. It is no use anyone trying to make

Forsman – Halme – Kultala – Latvala – Sippola & Turun kaupunginteatteri: THE BIRDS
The Birds is a puppet theatrical cabaret that celebrates birdlife from a range of different points of view. It explores the diversity of nature, climate

TEHDAS Theatre: BE MY QUERELLE
Timo Väntsi’s solo performance is a passionate puppet theatre fantasy English premiere during TIP-Fest 2022! During his last service days, a soon-to-be-retired naval Lieutenant faces

Sparrow
Lovely little Sparrow flies over to Manilla courtyard to meet the festival guests on Saturday at 9 pm. This lit giant puppet brings beauty and

Festival club Fri 4.11. 9pm
TIP-Fest Festival club on Friday Turku International Puppetry Festivalin club celebrates 10 years of Aura of Puppets network: balloons, music, cake and other birthday business

Dirty Duckling: FUNNY
The Best Puppet Show Ever Made Dirty Duckling’s performance FUNNY is made of Finnish puppeteers’ burning desire to conquer the theatre world. It consists of

Artist talks: Drinks with Elina
Drinks with Elina is a discussion series during Turku International Puppetry festival. Artists bring to the table their favourite drink and share ideas about the

Iida Vanttaja: A Mountain that Loved a Bird
This theatrical adaptation of Alice McLerran’s beloved tale about the friendship of a lonely Mountain and a Bird straying onto it makes use of the

Antti-Juhani Manninen: RIDICULOUSNESS
A very unusual comedy sketch show from the distant past and the future. A small gem of Turku’s contemporary puppet theatre scene now in Sopukka!

Nurinpäin Kollektiivi: INVISIBLE
Invisible is a puppetry inspired comedy about loneliness, told through live music, furniture and movement. We get to follow Lo’s struggle to become visible in

Käppi – Rajala – Räikkä: FEAR OF THE FOREST
A mystical puppetry horror tale about Finns and their relationship to the forest. Fear of the forest combines sound art and puppetry with horror and

Jenni Rutanen & Co.: VOYAGER
Contemporary puppetry performance from the backyards of imagination and reality. “… true freedom can only be attained through weightlessness.” Viktor Pelevin, Omon Ra VOYAGER is
Contact information:
Festival is produced by Puppetry network Aura of Puppets. The programme is mainly invitation-based and the curational timeline is approx. two years.
TIP-Fest Artistic directors: Roosa Halme, Anna Nekrassova and Outi Sippola:
Producer: Lotta Valtanen , +358 41 486 1222
Professionals & guests: Sanna Soni,

Festival is supported by:
Main partners: Pro Manillasäätiö, TEHDAS Theatre
Sponsors: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, City of Turku, Finnish Cultural Funds Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund, Turku Theatre Foundation, Ministry of Education and Culture.
The artistic director of TIP-Fest in 2023 and 2024 is pupptetry artist and director Ishmael Falke ishmael.falke (at) grusgrus.fi
Festival updates

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Workshops on sustainable touring 20.4.2023 during Oh My Puppets! -festival
Aura of Puppets hosts a seminar on sustainable touring practices on Thursday 20 April 2023 at the Oh My Puppets! mini festival for contemporary Puppetry

TIP-Fest artistic directors’ greetings
Dear friend of puppetry, During the darkest time of the year International Puppetry Festival 2022 edition invites us to celebrate the art of puppet theatre as well

Become a volunteer at TIP-Fest 2022
TIP-Fest, Turku International Puppetry Festival, is an international puppet theater festival organized by Aura of Puppets. The festival brings to the stages of Turku the