59th Edition of PIF: When Puppets Take Over the City
Approaching an impressive jubilee, the International Puppet Theatre Festival – PIF uses puppets to talk about topics that have no limits in terms of language or age.
From 11 to 17 September, puppets will take over streets, squares and theatre halls in Zagreb. Puppet shows, workshops and other performances are part of the International Puppet Theatre Festival - PIF, which is one of the oldest and longest running puppet festivals. It has taken place since 1968 and this will be its 59th edition.
Thirteen theatre and art troupes from Croatia, France, Spain, Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania and Italy will give performances during seven days of the festival. The international aspect of the festival further strengthens the cooperation with Croatian and foreign cultural and diplomatic institutions. It further promotes the festival’s ideas of universal dialogue, cultural exchange and theatre that goes beyond limits of language and generation.
The festival will be traditionally presented in the streets of Zagreb in the city centre on the morning of 12 September with a parade of puppets headed by a monumental puppet mascot named Pifko. It will invite citizens and visitors of the city to theatre halls. The festival will continue to be present in city streets during the festival through open-air programmes in the very city centre, at the Music Pavillion in Zrinjevac Park, Tkalčićeva Street, Ban Josip Jelačić Square, Petar Preradović Square and in Novi Zagreb in areas next to the Travno Culture Centre and the plateau of Mamutica, which is the largest resident building in Croatia and one of the biggest in Europe.
The competitive part of the programme will take place in several theatre halls in Zagreb, such as the Travno Culture Centre, Cultural Information Centre, Zagreb Dance Centre, Zagreb Puppet Theatre and Zagreb Youth Theatre. The competitive part of the programme finishes on 17 September with the awards ceremony.
The accompanying programme of the festival starts as early as 10 September with the opening of the exhibition “Puppet, Mask…PIF”, which consists of artwork created during the 14th art competition for children. The programme also contains puppet workshops for children, teachers and educators and seniors as well as programmes designed by the new generation of puppet artists.
The organiser of the 59th edition of PIF is the Travno Culture Centre. It is set up with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb, supported by the Zagreb Tourist Board and other institutions.
A detailed programme, as well as further information about the shows and tickets are available at the following link www.pif.hr.