RAT Adelaide Int. Festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre

[Adam <kafclown@well.com>]

Press Release

The Adelaide International Festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre

The South Australian Folk Federation and SA puppeteers will be staging
an exciting bi-annual Festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre in the
year 2001.This will be the first puppet festival of this capacity in
Australia since 1983. International, national and South Australian
companies, individual artists and community groups will join together to
present an array of new, experimental and traditional pieces of work.
The  aim of the Festival is to showcase and promote excellence in the
field, and raise public awareness of this unique artform.

The Festival will be held over nine days, incorporating two weekends,
five weekdays and evenings with a special opening carnival to launch
this exciting event. Performances will be situated in cosmopolitan
Norwood, a short five minutes from the city of Adelaide. The streets,
shopping malls, sidewalks and cafs will be bustling with support for
the magnificent spectacle.

The Norwood Concert Hall and Community Center will house two theatre
spaces, a caf with an intimate performance space, a gallery, conference
room, master class and workshop space, as well as festival information
and a box office. The Odeon Theatre, located a block away, will offer
another theatre with a workshop facility.

In addition to performances, the Festival will run workshops, seminars
and master classes in order to generate discussion and critical debate
to encourage the exchange of information between participants, community
groups and schools. This festival is aimed for both adults and children,
with venues and programming of shows appropriately placed.

Arts institutions such as The State Library, the Art Gallery of South
Australia, various performing arts collectives, theatre companies, youth
arts organisations, schools, community groups and councils will be
encouraged to host components of the Festival with exhibitions,
performances and workshops etc.

The Folk Federation is a community Arts organisation with extensive
experience in running Festivals they currently stage the Victor Harbor
Folk Festival, South Australias largest annual music event and the SA
Medieval Festival at Carrick Hill and run the South Australian Folk
Centre.

Expressions of interest are now being sought from Puppeteers, Arts
Companies and performing groups. We are interested in both professional
and community projects.

Your enquiries are welcome and should be directed to:
Keith Preston, Vanessa Ellis, Lachlan Haig
Planning Group
The Adelaide International Festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre
GPO Box 1601 Adelaide South Australia 5001

Phone:  (08) 8340 1069 Facsimile:  (08) 8346 8506
Email:  info@folk.sa.asn.au


                                              -
_________________________________________________________