Turku International
Puppetry Festival
TIP-Fest is organized on 12.-15.11.2026
TIP-Fest, Turku International Puppetry Festival, is an international puppet theater festival organized by Aura of Puppets. This year's festival is the first biennal edition of TIP-fest and the theme of the year is Communities
The festival’s main venue is Cultural Factory Manilla, and performances will also take place at the Turku City Theater, Children's culture centre Färi, and Åbo Svenska Teater.
In addtion to the performances, the programme includes discussions and workshops both for professionals and anyone who is interested in puppetry.
The festival is organised by Aura of Puppets, the biggest network for puppetry professionals in Finland.
Festival programme 2026
Performances
Mecanika: Polaroid (PRT, FRA)
How do you evoke the memory in the immediacy of a performance? What would a theatrical polaroid be? This question sets the stage for Portuguese artist Paulo Duarte's performance, which combines puppets, shadow theater, and video with live music. Buy the tickets here. The show will be performed at Åbo Svenska teater.
Tranquility of the Black Flowers is a puppetry performance about the Finnish poet Katri Vala, her passionate life and her slow death. The performance combines strong physicality and visual illusions, the wonders of puppet theater with audiovisual storytelling. The show will be performed at Turku City Theatre. Tickets available.
Rakastajat teatteri: Can you whistle Johanna?
For children
The story, told with warm humor, highlights the similarities between children and the elderly. Children can learn from the elderly and vice versa. The play, which combines theater and puppetry, also beautifully deals with death and grief when losing a grandparent. Buy the tickets here.
TeatteriQo: Meadow
For children
Meadow is a multidisciplinary work about plants, growth, individuality, and cooperation. By the meadow, the world can be observed for a moment from the perspective of plants. The piece combines nature observation and puppet theatre, leaving space for the imaginative paths and discoveries of both young and older audiences.
Venue: Chlidren's culture centre Färi. Buy Tickets here.
KO-KOO-MO: Block Theatre
For children
In block theatre imagination, with the help of wooden blocks, guides the spectator to a range of different worlds. The non-verbal performance captures the audience, and the puppeteer, together with the music and the rest of the soundscape, breaths life to the blocks. Block theatre is a visual art form that stirs the viewer’s imagination. Venue: Turku City Theatre, Sopukka.
Buy Tickets here.
Ad astra: Jasmine and the Squirrel
For children
Ad astra: Jasmine and the Squirrel Jasmine and the Squirrel is a heartwarming and inspiring story about a brave Romani girl’s journey to becoming a star musician, a cheeky squirrel, and a grandmother who is a master of crochet. It is a tale of self-discovery, overcoming obstacles, embracing one’s identity, and following one’s
dreams. Buy your tickets Tickets here. Föreställningen visas även på svenska. Biljetter till den svenskspråkiga föreställningen hittar du här.
The Little Marionnette Theatre: (UKR) Wings
Koskettava Wings on ukrainalainen nukketeatteriesitys, joka pohjautuu The Angel and the Human -näytelmään, tarinaan enkelin ja ihmisen kohtaamisesta.
Wings syntyi ukrainalaisten sotilaiden kanssa tehdyn taideterapeuttisen työskentelyn yhteydessä. Teos sovitettiin teknisesti kevyeksi; esitettäväksi siellä, missä sotilaatkin ovat.
Teatteri Quo Vadis, Tehdas Teatteri and Bredenberg & Taussi — Visual theatre: On the Life of Plants
A cheeky, poetic and wondrous visual theatre performance about the secret life of the plants. Venue: Jokistudio, Tehdas Teatteri. You can buy the tickets Tickets here.
KO-KOO-MO: Block Theatre III - Twelve O'Clock Setting
(for adults) a wordless performance that plays with the concept of a restaurant, offering. multisensory experiences, using wooden blocks as its raw material. From the dishes served at tables, each diner can conjure up a forest, plants, various animals – perhaps a glimpse of nature’s vanishing biodiversity. Building these creations together at the same table provides a communal, shared experience. Venue: Turku City Theater. You can buy the tickets Tickets here.
Valtteri Alanen & Jim Manganello: Tube Man -demo
Tube Man is an epic history of man told through and among hundreds of inflatable tubes. Two men manipulate these tubes – ridiculous and vaguely phallic – with leaf blowers, hoovers, foot pumps and wind machines. The manipulation of the objects becomes subtle terrain for moments of differentiation, competition, collaboration, and violence. Work in progress sharing 14 November.
Maija Westerholm & co: The Calling — Kutsuiko joku Raijan? -demo
The Calling — Did someone call Raija? is an intimate artistic exploration of the world of vocational work. At TIP-Fest, audiences will see a version of the work that is still in progress. The performance focuses on working in healthcare as a calling. What does it mean when a profession is a calling, and what does that lead to? The story is set in a hospital environment and explores the absurd aspects of a nurse’s daily routine.
Additional programme
Elviira Davidow: Ihmisiksi (How to Human)
Peace educational exposition during TIP-Fest 12.-15.11.2026 at Tehdas Theatre.
How to live a good life in a way that would also be good for other people and our globe? How to find ways to influence things related to my home country, its society and environment – or even the entire planet?
Milla Risku: Dive in to the painting! Workshop
Workshop for theatre enthusiasts in Finnish language Fri 13 Nov at 11:00 Tehdas Theatre.
In this workshop, we will use water as a starting point for creating a performance without human performers. Water becomes the protagonist, while sound, objects and other materials help shape the space and its unfolding story. By following chance and responding to what the material does, we will make room for the unexpected in the creative process.
Come and discover upcoming puppetry projects, fresh ideas and works in progress! The event features short 5–10 minute presentations and demos.
Artistic Research in Contemporary Puppet Theatre / Stage Animation This series of gatherings is directed to artists and researchers. Who would conduct artistic research on contemporary puppet theatre if not the puppet artists themselves? The event series encourages artists to engage with research, explore their own creative practice, and write about their work.
Community-engaged performing arts: the many roles of makers and audiences - Panelists: professor Esa Kirkkopelto, Tampere University, puppet artist Alma Rajala and executive producer Katie Roberts, Manipulate Arts Scotland Facilitator: Venla Luoma, director of Tehdas Theatre. Fri 13 Nov at 11:00 in Jokistudio.
UNIMA Coffee, our very own UNIMA apéro!
Suomen UNIMAn edustajat kertovat meneillään olevasta kansainvälisestä projektista Ukrainalaisen nukketeatterin näyteikkuna Pohjoismaissa. Projektin viimeinen etappi on TIP-Festeillä nähtävä ukrainalainen esitys Wings. Tilaisuuteen on vapaa pääsy ja Tehdas Teatterin kahvio palvelee tapahtuman ajan.
FESTIVAL CLUB: 20 000 hz
Tehdas Theatre Speakeasy <3 TIP-Fest presents: machine-driven goth pop and post-punk in silver overalls! Formed by musicians already known in Finland from various projects, the band captivates with its unique sound, reminiscent of electronic pop from the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. Combining lo-fi elements with a homegrown underground vibe, the band draws inspiration from science fiction, punk, and ABBA. Tickets here.
The exhibition’s works—puppets that can be manipulated in various ways and installations with fixed structures—are made from decomposing materials that The materials were gathered from local forest floors and garden waste, as well as from plant-based waste generated in kitchens.
During the Festival, a collaborative installation Shared dream: slowly forms in the Manilla courtyard.
Turku Animated Film Festival esittää: Nukkeanimaation helmet 15.11. klo 13. Erikoisnäytös esittelee runsaan kirjon fantastisia nukkeanimaatioelokuvia tässä koko perheelle sopivassa näytöksessä. Suuria tunteita ja ratkiriemukasta menoa runsaissa väreissä kylpien – palkittuja elokuvia ja kansainvälisiä festarihitteja. Näytöksen on kuratoinut TAFFin taiteellinen johtaja Joni Männistö.
Thu 12 Nov at 20–23 Tehdas Theatre
This workshop draws inspiration from The Life of Plants performance.
Take part in installations made with mixed techniques.
Free admission. Welcome to create a collaborative artwork!
Open for everyone!
Festival team
TIP-Fest is organised by a Finnish puppetry network
Aura of Puppets
Artistic director
Outi Sippola
outi@auraofpuppets.com
Festival director
Taru Tuomisto
taru@auraofpuppets.com
+358 447340225
Producer
Mette Seppälä
mette@auraofpuppets.com
+358 413175091
Volunteer coordinator
Jaina Saviainen
tuotanto@auraofpuppets.com
+358 449092414
Technical producer
Jarkko Forsman
Kuvia TIP-Festistä
