{"id":17300,"date":"2019-04-26T10:40:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T09:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=17300"},"modified":"2019-04-26T10:41:37","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T09:41:37","slug":"the-puppets-return-to-newtownards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2019\/04\/the-puppets-return-to-newtownards\/","title":{"rendered":"The Puppets return to Newtownards!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Newtownards is preparing for a puppet invasion next month when the Ards Puppet Festival returns to Ards Arts Centre and Conway Square. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ruby and Daniel Bingham, catch up with some quirky characters at the launch of Ards Puppet Festival 2019. The festival will be held in Ards Arts Centre and Conway Square on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May. Characters from The Beat Hotel, kindly lent by Filmtrip Ltd.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The popular festival which is taking place on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May presents a full-programme of puppet mayhem and will be fun for all ages!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

popular festival which is taking place on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May presents a full-programme of puppet mayhem and will be fun for all ages!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular festival which is taking place on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May presents a full-programme of puppet mayhem and will be fun for all ages!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the\ntwo days, Ards Arts Centre and Conway Square will be buzzing with an eclectic\nmix of scheduled performances, free puppet workshops and plenty of madcap\npuppet shenanigans! Expect puppets in all shapes and sizes, from socks to\nstrings and even glow in the dark!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Festival\nis thrilled to welcome Lyngo Theatre to this year\u2019s programme to perform their \u2018Tom\nThumb\u2019 and \u2018Jack and the Beanstalk\u2019 shows at Ards Arts Centre. Not your usual\npuppet shows – these classic fairy tales will be brought to life with\nfascinating and magical performances by Patrick Lynch of Cbeebies fame. The\nwhole family will be entertained!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clydebuilt\nTheatre will make a welcome return to the festival with their adorable \u2018Lost\nBear\u2019 production and the much-loved Banyan Theatre will also return with their\nenchanting show \u2018The Hedgehog Prince\u2019. All scheduled shows cost \u00a33 per ticket,\nadvanced booking is required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s\nlots happening outside in Conway Square too with a full-programme of\nstreet-theatre, walkabouts and puppet workshops. Watch the \u2018Billy Goats Gruff\u2019 as\nthey tussle with the grumpy troll, queue up at the \u2018Rat Choc Chip\u2019 ice-cream\nvan and get more than you\u2019ve bargained for, enjoy a \u2018Teddy Bears Picnic\u2019 or\ntraditional \u2018Punch and Judy\u2019. More creative visitors can get stuck into puppet\nmaking at the free interactive workshops where children can build their very\nown puppets, with help from professional artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nprogramme highlights will be performances by the Budapest Marionettes.\nPerforming for the first time in Northern Ireland, Bence Sarkadi is a Hungarian\nmarionette artist \/ puppeteer who travels the globe, entertaining crowds with\nhis award-winning, one-man show. Prepare to be amazed as Bence\u2019s mastery brings\nhis puppets to life. All Conway Square performances are free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 13 \u2013 24 May, the Puppet\nScavenger Hunt will take place around Ards Town Centre. Follow the clues and\nspot the crazy characters to win a prize and be in with a chance of winning a\nFamily Pass to the Black Adventure Zone at the Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and\nLeisure Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the festival, Amy\nMcKelvey, Community Arts Development Officer with Ards and North Down Borough\nCouncil said; \u201cAs\nalways, we are thrilled to be launching our programme for Ards Puppet Festival\n2019 with plenty of unique performances to entertain the whole family.\nAlongside festival favourites like Banyan and Clydebuilt Puppet companies, we\nare very excited to be welcoming the Budapest Marionettes and Beautiful\nCreatures to the festival and to Northern Ireland, for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ards Puppet Festival takes place\nfrom 26 \u2013 27 May in Conway Square Newtownards. Copies of the Puppet Festival\nprogramme are also available from Ards Arts Centre, North Down Museum or any of\nthe Council\u2019s Visitor Information Centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, to book\ntickets or to download the programme go to: www.ardsarts.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newtownards is preparing for a puppet invasion next month when the Ards Puppet Festival returns to Ards Arts Centre and Conway Square. The popular festival which is taking place on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May presents a full-programme of puppet mayhem and will be fun for all ages! popular festival which is taking place … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17300"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17303,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300\/revisions\/17303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}