Greetings Dear Children, Honored Parents, Puppeteers! Within a few weeks, a few days, the center of Békéscsaba will be transformed with the help of puppets, of you children, your dear parents, grandparents, honorable artists, and estimable organizers! A magic empire evolves for 4 days presenting the game, playfulness, beauty, laughter, creativity on St. István Square, Andrássy Avenue, in the Jókai Theater and the Sunshine Puppet Theater. This miracle is the XVIIth International Puppet Festival, which - let’s remain in the realm of the tales instead of a handful of ruffians a dedicated team, the Napsugar Puppet Theater and their leader Zoltán Lenkefi will spell out for us. Great performances, varied genres, numerous companies from Hungary and abroad are waiting for the hullabaloo with kids to fill the downtown of Békéscsaba. I am proud that tradition did not break even after the changeover of the theater’s ownership, and with the support of the Ministry of Human Resources, the Local Government of Békéscsaba has been able to provide a stable background for the realization of the festival. I would also like to meet a lot of guests this year at the seventeenth puppet festival and see as many smiles at the perfomances as you have during the whole season! I wish the artists and organizers long applause and a lot of successes, and unforgettable experiences for our guests! Szarvas Péter, mayor
Dear Festival Guests! The International Puppet Festival - celebrating its 50th birthday this year - has been a prominent event in the city of Békéscsaba for decades. The first puppet festival was held in 1968 also in June in the seat of the county. Over the past 50 years hundreds of groups have participated in the event from China to Canada. They could take part in fabulous experiences so could the audience, as we can remember the Australian giant robots or the Japanese mini puppets. We have been trying to attract the best and most interesting puppet performances, so we will have Italian, Spanish, Czech and Serbian guests alongside the multitude of Hungarian performers. In the square in front of the Theatre and in the main square of the city buskers will entertain the public, in the Jókai Theatre and the Ibsen House we can see 27 performances. On the 300th anniversary of the re-population of Békéscsaba I wish all our visitors a pleasant stay, refreshment of strength and spirits with puppets! Zoltán Lenkefi, Director of the Békéscsaba Napsugár Puppet Theatre
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