STORRS, Conn. (AP) – Puppeteers from around the world began descending on the University of Connecticut on Monday to participate in a weeklong festival of all things puppet.
The National Puppetry Festival, a biennial event run by the Puppeteers of America, includes 20 puppet shows, six other visual exhibitions, more than 30 professional workshops and a puppet-filled parade through downtown Storrs.
The event is being held at UConn for the first time since 1970 to help mark the 50th anniversary of the school’s Puppet Arts program, which was founded by the late puppeteer Frank Ballard. It is one of just three programs in the United States offering degrees in puppetry.
More than 500 puppeteers from 12 nations are expected to attend, including Carroll Spinney, the man behind characters such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on TV’s “Sesame Street.”
Spinney, who lives just 20 miles away in Woodstock, got his big break at a similar festival in the 1960s, said Bart Roccoberton, director of both UConn’s Puppet Arts program and the festival.