Puppets aren't just for kids, as the Bristol Festival of Puppetry proves. It's the city's first puppet festival and it will feature puppetry in all its forms, from the macabre to the slapstick, as well as events led by world-famous puppeteers.

Puppet Place
The Bristol Festival of Puppetry is being hosted by Puppet Place, a creative collective originally set up to support puppetry across the South West. The organisation is now being relaunched after more than a 10-year gap and to celebrate they're launching the city's first puppet festival with a host of events for the family, those interested in puppetry and workshops from some of the industry's experts.

Family-Friendly Shows
There's just about every kind of puppet show on offer at the festival. For children there are magical tales like Skillywidden or fantastic adventures such as Across The Deep Blue Sea, a tale about a man in a tiny boat lost in an enormous ocean. And if your children are inspired by what they see they can create their own puppet at a community workshop. They can then parade their creations through the streets in the Creatures Of Southville Carnival on the final weekend of the Bristol Festival of Puppetry.

Twisted Creations
Although there is plenty of child-friendly puppetry, there are shows which have a dark twist. These include the UK premiere of Hunger from Norwegian company TinkerTing and Bristol-based puppeteers Pickled Image. The show is an adaptation of Knut Hamsun's novel, thought to be the first literary exploration of the inner workings of the human mind. It's about a writer who tries to cure a creative crisis by inflicting a hunger experiment on himself.

Professionals' Day
Peter Lord, from Aardman Animations, and William Todd Jones, who has worked with Jim Henson, are part of a panel discussion about puppetry and its future. The P Word discussion is a chance for those with a strong interest in puppetry, and those involved in the industry, to swap ideas and discuss the future of their artform. The discussion is open to the public and there'll be film screenings immediately afterwards featuring all sorts of puppetry and animation.

Creatures of Southville Carnival
At the end of the Bristol Festival of Puppetry there'll be the Creatures of Southville Carnival, an event the whole community can get involved with. You can make your own puppet for the parade during a workshop the day before. But if you just want to watch the puppets in action there'll be plenty of street theatre during the day of the carnival.

The Bristol Festival of Puppetry takes place at the Tobacco Factory from 28th August - 6th September 2009.

The Creatures of Southville Carnival takes place on 6th September in the streets of Southville.

Tickets cost £12/£9 concesssions for shows at the Tobacco Factory, and £11/ £8 concessions for shows at The Brewery (part of the Tobacco Factory).

Family shows cost £5. To buy tickets click on the link below.

Tobacco Factory Official Site