XXIV International Puppet Theater Festival "Three are too many, Two- not enough​" & TheatAir 2021
 
From the 2nd to the 6th of September we will see chamber performances for children and adults, shows, magic and workshops in open urban spaces, concerts and free screenings

This year's edition of the festival brings together troupes from Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Croatia! The events are varied, fun, provocative and show different techniques and approaches to puppetry and street art. The performances from the competition program are held on the main and open stage of the State Puppet Theater - Plovdiv, and TheatAir covers the central part of Plovdiv.

The first event of the XXIV edition of the festival is a procession on 02.09 from 17:00 h. The fantastic characters, created by high school graduates in 2021 from National High School of Stage and Film Design- Plovdiv, specialties "Stage costume" - artistic director Rada Hadjiyska and "Theatrical makeup and wigs" - artistic director Dorothea Hristova will come to life on the main street of Plovdiv. During the procession, students from National School of Music and Dance "Dobrin Petkov" - Plovdiv with artistic director Pencho Penchev will play percussion instruments.

The official opening of the festival will be from 18:00 h. in the lobby of the theater, where guests will see an exhibition "Pastels" by the doyen of the State Puppet Theater - Plovdiv, Panayot Dobrev - Ponko. From 19:00 h. on the stage of the theater, outside the competition program, will be played the play "The Bowler Hat" by Yordan Radichkov on State Puppet Theatre - Plovdiv.

The first day of the festival "Three are too many, Two -  not enough" & TheatAir will end with a PREMIERE! Aerial show-performance "History of the puppets" of the Theater of Fire and Shadows Fireter, which has repeatedly amazed the Plovdiv audience with spectacular processions and a fire show! The performance will be played at the Vienna Pavilion in the Tsar Simeon's Garden from 21:00 h. and is realized with the support of the National Culture Fund.

Another premiere is coming up! An average family of giant dolls will walk along the main street of the city. The show is "Pedestrian Zone", part of the official program of "Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture 2019" and is a fun look, "under a magnifying glass" on the daily life of mother, father and their two children. Like any family, they also want to be "perfect", and whether they will succeed we will find out on September 3 at 18:00 h.

Children will see classic clowning, balloon dolls, numbers shows, sheep, robbers, live mushrooms, tales of love, friendship and of course, Little Red Riding Hood!

Every night, at 19:00 h. on the main stage of the State Puppet Theatre  - Plovdiv we will see a puppet theater for adults and kids: the performance "Clown Houses" by the German troupe Merlin Puppet Theater, which shows the life of modern man as a grotesque; a live film thriller by the Spanish company Cinema Sticado, which crosses the line between performing and screen art with the show "End of the Season"; State Puppet Theater - Vidin will present the play "Air", which reminds us that the Earth is our common home, which we all need to take care of; Carlson House Theater from St. Petersburg, Russia, will play the beautiful tale of H. Kr. Andersen for The Little Match Girl. On 5.09 at 21:00 h. on the open stage of State Puppet Theatre - Plovdiv Buyu Theater from Izmir, Turkey will present "Dreams" - the touching story of a clown fired from the circus.

On the 3rd and 4th of September from 16:00 h. in Tsar Simeon's Garden everyone will be able to try to learn the intricacies of the attractive aerial circus art during a two-hour workshop of the great artists from the Theater of Fire and Shadows Fireter.

TRIO Theater from Burgas will offer a very personal and emotional experience - "Our home - the forest", Theater: a performance for one spectator.
Of course, there will be magic, which will be taken care of by Mag Foficino from Italy from September 4 to 6. Follow the program to find out where in the city center you can find it!

We have also prepared a special gift for the biggest fans of the puppet theater: if you buy tickets for 3 different events from the festival program, you will receive an invitation to the concert of Ostava or Mila Robert!

Information about all the events and the participants in the festival can be found on the Facebook pages: of the theater, of the festival, as well as in the festival booklet.

And since the biggest wish of the organizers of the festival is the magic of puppetry to reach as many people as possible to make them happy and inspire, on September 3, 4 and 5 you will be able to watch recordings of part of the performances from the competition program of the festival free of charge at the Roman Stadium. Each of the three evenings of screenings will end with an episode of the ACT-UNIMA Bulgaria project, "Puppet Theater for Adults: A Story in 10 Episodes".

The event is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Plovdiv, in partnership with the Minicipal Institute "Ancient Plovdiv", National High School of Stage and Film Design- Plovdiv, National School of Music and Dance „Dobrin Petkov“, Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, RPM Plovdiv, National Art High School "Tsanko Lavrenov"