After a great deal of thought and discussion, it is with much sadness that we announce the cancellation of this year’s Puppet Animation Festival. The ever-increasing spread of the coronavirus across the UK and the great disruption this has already caused precludes any other responsible course of action. We have a duty of care to our festival audiences throughout Scotland and the north of England, many of whom are grandparents enjoying the company of their grandchildren as they attend performances together over the holiday period.
This has also been a challenging decision to make because of its potential effect on the Scottish and English puppetry companies we have programmed and the festival venues in which they were due to appear. The practical support of puppeteers has always been one of Puppet Animation Scotland’s fundamental purposes. To this end, we will be working with both artists and venues to reschedule, in the second half of 2020, as many performances and workshops as they and we can.
Even though the Puppet Animation Scotland team will be working remotely from home for the foreseeable future, we will be available and more than ready to talk with and support artists and venues as much as we can during these difficult times.