The International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC lands at The Clemente, turning the Lower East Side into the world’s only fringe festival built entirely around puppetry.
International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC 2026
Global puppetry festival with more than 100 performances, films, exhibitions, and workshops with artists from 10 countries
The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center
Lower East Side
Wed-Sun, August 12-16, 2026
Free and ticketed events
Now in its 4th edition, the International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC (IPFFNYC) is produced by Teatro SEA and Grupo Morán, with support from The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center.
This year’s theme, Women in Puppetry, celebrates the artists who have shaped and reimagined the craft around the world, with the 2026 edition honoring puppeteers Theodora Skipitares and Nancy Lohman Staub.
Five days of programming spread across the Clemente complex, including Teatro SEA, LATEA Theater, the Flamboyán Theater, Los Kabayitos Theater, and the outdoor La Plaza, along with the Abrazo Interno and LES galleries.
Expect performances, film screenings, panels, and masterclasses from puppet makers spanning ten countries and five continents, alongside a full slate of exhibitions.
This edition also marks one of the first public events inside the newly renovated Clemente Center, following a $14 million accessibility and renovation project at the historic Dutch Neo-Gothic building, a former public school on Suffolk Street that has anchored Puerto Rican and Latino cultural life on the Lower East Side for decades.
Teatro SEA, founded in 1985, is the country’s premier bilingual Latino children’s theater, and its home inside The Clemente has hosted the Puppet Fringe Festival since its first edition in 2018, followed by editions in 2021 and 2023.
Latin Artists at IPFFNYC 2026
The festival’s global reach runs especially deep across Latin America and the Caribbean this year, with companies traveling from México, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Argentina to share the stage with Teatro SEA’s own Latino heritage storytelling.
Viva Pinocho
Teatro SEA | USA (Puerto Rican and Pan-Latin)
A retelling of the classic Pinocchio story centered on a young Mexican immigrant finding his footing between heritage and a new country.
Teatro SEA reworks the Pinocchio tale into a coming of age story for immigrant kids, using classic marionette craft to talk honestly about identity and belonging in a new home. It is a signature piece for the company that built its name at The Clemente.
Mujeres a cuatro manos
Teatro Naku Mx | México
Two puppeteers share control of a single set of puppets, working four hands together through short vignettes on womanhood, memory, and solitude.
This Mexican company builds an entire emotional universe out of tightly synchronized puppet work, using humor and irony to move between vignettes on childhood, old age, and quiet resentment. It is a showcase of technical puppetry craft as much as storytelling.
Historia de Burros
Teatro de las Estaciones | Cuba
A Cuban puppet production drawing on poetry from Federico García Lorca, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Rubén Darío Salazar, among others.
Historia de Burros has already collected honors on the international puppetry circuit, including a staging award from Cuba’s National Puppet Theater and a best adaptation prize at a children’s theater festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Its literary pedigree makes it a standout pick for audiences who want puppetry with serious poetic roots.
Archipiélago
Vueltabajo Teatro | Puerto Rico
A devised physical theater piece about migration, family, and connection to the island, built around the idea that no person is illegal.
Vueltabajo Teatro leans on movement and silence more than dialogue, letting its puppet and physical theater work speak to migration and belonging without needing translation. It is one of the festival’s most direct statements on Caribbean identity.
The idea that no person is illegal is an Indigenous tradition that considers Mother Earth (Pachamama, Abya Yala) to be a living relative, and you cannot block relatives.
Trenzas, Sapos y Mariposas
Nazareno Ciminari and Pablo Jesús Gatto | Argentina
A microtheater piece from Argentina, staged in the festival’s intimate short-form performance track.
Presented as part of the festival’s Microtheater program, this piece gives Buenos Aires based puppeteers Nazareno Ciminari and Pablo Jesús Gatto a compact, close up format to work in.
JouvayFest Collective at Puppet Cabaret and Spaghetti Dinner
Great Small Works | USA, with JouvayFest Collective (Trinidadian)
An evening of puppet cabaret built around a shared meal, featuring a JouvayFest Collective performance of traditional Caribbean carnival art, music, and storytelling.
Great Small Works has hosted its cabaret and shared meal tradition for a quarter century, and this edition folds in JouvayFest Collective’s carnival arts alongside puppet shorts and a tribute to the late Nancy Staub. The dinner menu shifts away from the usual pasta to traditional carnival foods prepared by JouvayFest Collective.
The JouvayFest name is a creole form of J’ouvert, the Caribbean Carnival daybreak tradition. We love to party so much, that if there is a party tomorrow, we can start tonight.
Carnival is much more than a parade. It’s a big, months-long celebration of community, culture, resilience, and pride. From Trinidadian roots, Caribbean Carnival has gone global.
The shared meal is something that expresses our common humanity. This meal switches pasta for Carnival treats, but in the Caribbean, we eat a lot of pasta.
What to Expect at Puppet Fringe NYC
Whether you are a lifelong theater lover, an arts enthusiast, or looking for unique family activities in New York City, the festival features a diverse lineup of events.
Live Puppet Performances
From traditional marionettes and shadow puppets to avant-garde adult theater and giant street puppets.
Late-Night Puppet Slams
Uncensored, experimental cabaret-style puppet shows created specifically for adult audiences.
Film Screenings & Panels
Documentaries and short films exploring global puppet-making traditions and history.
Hands-on Workshops
Interactive masterclasses led by master puppeteers, makers, and directors.
Street Celebrations
Free outdoor pop-up performances, processions, and family-friendly activities around Suffolk Street.
About The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center
The Clemente is a Puerto Rican and Latino cultural institution on the Lower East Side, housed in a former public school building dating to 1898.
The center supports theater, dance, film, and visual art groups with a range of performance and gallery spaces, all under one roof at 107 Suffolk Street.
It’s the home for a lot of great Latin culture in NYC.