Puppets Up! (updated May 10, August 22, 2025)
Almonte festival
A good time was had taking in some of Almonte’s Puppets Up! puppet festival, on Sunday, August 11.
From the top left: A new take on Punch and Judy; a scene from Humpty Dumpty; scenes from the parade; an Almonte resident engaging passersby from his balcony.
Update - May 10, 2025
The driving force behind this festival was Noreen Young. She died April 18, 2025, just shy of her 86th birthday. Read about her in the Ottawa Citizen. Her obituary in The Millstone News. The CBC story. Her Wikipedia page.
The Festival now takes place every other year — next in 2026.
Update - 22 August, 2025
The 2026 Festival dates are August 8 & 9.
Before that, “The Puppets Up! new-fangled fall Chautauqua will take place on Saturday, November 15, with matinée and evening performances at the Almonte Old Town Hall.”
To be on stage rather than in the audience, “Auditions will be held on Sunday, September 14 from 1- 4pm and Monday, September 15 from 7-9pm in the conference room of the Almonte Library. Acts can be up to 7 minutes in length, and they don’t have to be completely polished by the audition date — you just need to demonstrate that you’ve got something good going on. Register for an audition slot here.“