This year the festival celebrates the 115th anniversary since the birth of the great Russian puppet master Sergey Obraztsov (1901-1992) and the 85th anniversary of the Obraztsov Puppet Theatre.
The 8th Sergey Obraztsov International Festival of Puppet Theaters is traditionally taking place on stage of the S. V. Obraztsov State Academic Central Puppet Theatre (OSACPT).
Puppet Parade in the Sadovoe Koltso Boulevard
The festival was opened a puppet parade in the heart of Moscow. Characters of the legendary "Obraztsov's" performance Unusual Concert, which has been held on the stage of OSACPT for 7 decades, walked along the Sadovoe Koltso Boulevard. In the evening Don Quixote staged by Yekaterina Obraztsova was performed in the Puppet Theatre. Its stage director, the granddaughter of the great puppet master, has successfully continued the family tradition.
Puppets from All Over the World
The festival's international program starts today, on October 7. It aims at introducing the general public to the rich variety of puppet theatre art. These are marionette puppets, glove puppets, mechanical puppets, jigging puppets, shadow puppets and, of course, "Obraztsov's" brand rod puppets, the press service explained.
Muscovites and tourists will have a rare opportunity of watching the best modern performances from around the world. This time the festival participants are coming from the Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, China, France of Bulgaria, Italy, India, Germany and Poland.
The Etcetera Theatre (Spain) will open the foreign program with the show Soul of the People staged by Enrique Lants, one of the leaders of world puppet theater.
It will be followed with the Stuffed Puppet Theatre from the Netherlands, which will show the play Matilda, a touching story about life of two lonely women at an old folk' home.
The Micropodium Puppet Theater from Hungary will present three performances of various genres: Andras Lenart Show, Konanim and Stop.
The Polish Animation Theatre will surprise viewers with its stage play Molière, the leading character in which is a human being instead of a puppet.
The Varna State Puppet Theater  (Bulgaria) will play a cheerful love story, Little Wizards, whereas the Sychuan Puppet Theater (China) will show Puppet Art Masterpieces of China, which addresses the audience of any age.
Punella  - Noges Company (France) will present the performance UBU'S  and the Ladies' Handbag Theatre (Spain) will show a play under the approporiate name of Ladies' Handbag, in which "there are no words but only an amazing combination of music, images, songs... and silence", as the press release reads.
The Little Feet Theater (Italy) will give the show "Once Upon a Time There Lived ... Two Feet". Its performer Veronica Gonsalez manages puppets by using her hands, feet and even head. "One can hardly believe that the whole of this lively puppet show is played by one actress only", - the press release emphasizes.
The Indian Katkatha Theatre  will perform a story About Prince Rama.
The festival will be finished with The Night Concert on October 30. The original project by the Figurentheatertubingen (Germany) brings together people, puppets and music.