Free puppet shows on The Pantiles and at Royal Victoria Place from 26 October, then two family shadow and pirate shows in Southborough. The day-by-day programme.
The Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival returns for its seventh edition from Monday 26 to Saturday 31 October, the Kent schools’ half-term week. Most of the programme is free and needs no booking. You just turn up on The Pantiles, at Royal Victoria Place or by the Millennium Clock Tower. (Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival)
The festival director is Mehdi Razi, and the board is co-chaired by Hayley Chester and Alison Bundy. The most recent programme in the festival’s own archive is from 2024.
The quick answer
- Free, no booking: Project Wolf walkabouts on The Pantiles (Monday), Thai shadow puppets at Royal Victoria Place (Tuesday), Sichuan face-changing in three town-centre spots (Wednesday) and the Saraswati string puppet at Royal Victoria Place (Thursday).
- Book ahead: the workshops on Tuesday and Thursday, and the two theatre shows at Southborough Civic Centre on Friday and Saturday.
- Bookings go through the festival’s TicketSource page.
Day by day
All times and places below are from the festival’s own 2026 programme.
| Day | Show | Where | When | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 26 Oct | Project Wolf, Sonny Puppets | The Pantiles | 20 minute walkabouts at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm | Free, just turn up |
| Tue 27 Oct | Southern Thai Shadow Puppet Theatre, Ammerry Salisbury | Royal Victoria Place, Upper Plaza | Shows at 11am, 1pm and 3pm; workshops at 11.30am and 1.30pm | Shows free; book workshops |
| Wed 28 Oct | Face Changing, Weldon | The Pantiles, 16 Mount Pleasant Road, Millennium Clock Tower | 1pm, 1.30pm and 2pm, one in each place | Free, just turn up |
| Thu 29 Oct | Saraswati, Indigo Moon Theatre | Royal Victoria Place | Shows at 11am, 12.15pm, 1.30pm and 2.45pm; workshops at 11.15am and 1.45pm | Shows free; pre-book workshops |
| Fri 30 Oct | Gaby Gulliver's Travels, Indigo Moon Theatre | Southborough Civic Centre | 3pm | Book |
| Sat 31 Oct | Three Little Pirate Pigs, Sea Legs Puppet Theatre | Southborough Civic Centre | 2pm | Book |
What the shows are
Project Wolf opens the festival. Sonny Puppets calls it a brand-new medieval immersive performance, inspired by Cumbrian folklore and The Last Wolf book by Mrs Jerome Mercer. Local puppeteer Sonny D leads it with actors, and medieval fancy dress is encouraged.
Southern Thai Shadow Puppet Theatre is a performance and workshop programme for families. It covers the puppet traditions of Central and Southern Thailand through stories from Thai literature, mythology and folklore.
Face Changing is performed by Weldon, a London-based performer of Peking Opera and Sichuan Opera. The act mixes the classical Sichuan mask-switching technique with Western pop music. The festival says more details are coming.
Saraswati is a string puppet who dances to live instruments in the Rajasthani folk style. Indigo Moon Theatre has toured her in Britain and abroad since 1992.
Gaby Gulliver’s Travels is a shadow theatre show for adults and children, also by Indigo Moon Theatre. It retells Gulliver’s Travels through an eight-year-old girl sent on an errand into the woods, who falls into one parallel world after another.
Three Little Pirate Pigs is narrated by Shadrack the lighthouse keeper. Three pigs build a boat to play pirates, and have to choose between straw, sticks and bricks.
What it means for you
- Four days are free. Monday to Thursday need no ticket. Royal Victoria Place on Tuesday or Thursday gives the most chances, with three or four shows a day.
- Book the workshops early. Workshop places on Tuesday and Thursday are limited, and the festival asks for them to be pre-booked.
- Friday and Saturday are in Southborough, about two miles north of the town centre on the A26 London Road.
- There are no trains that week. Buses replace trains between Tonbridge and Wadhurst from 24 October to 1 November, so plan around that if you are coming in by rail. Our Grove Hill Tunnel closure page has the details.
- For the rest of the week, see our October half term guide. It covers The Amelia Scott’s free Discovery Days, Trinity’s shadow puppetry workshop and Scotney’s Halloween trail.
Sources
- Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival, home page and What’s On 2026, read 13 October 2026.
- Ticket bookings: TicketSource, Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival.
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