Orlando Puppet Festival History

Conceived by Heather Henson and Jamie Donmoyer, the OPF has been produced by IBEX Puppetry since its inception in 2005. The yearly festival was designed to expose Central Florida audiences to a variety of local, national, and international touring puppet performances and foster community interest in the art of puppetry.  Over the past two years, IBEX Puppetry has co-sponsored many smaller, individual events in the Orlando area, from monthly Puppet Blasts for families to the adult Puppet Slam presented at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. In July, local arts organizations collaborated with IBEX Puppetry to create the 1st Orlando International Puppet Festival, aided by grants from the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Working with producing partners MicheLee Puppets, Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater, and the Orlando Repertory Theatre, the OPF continued its transformation from an IBEX produced, weekend-long festival to a multi-organizational series of year-round events. The evolution continues for the OPF in the fall of 2009 and beyond!