The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry Presents Free Puppet-Building Workshops

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops to design and build life-size and over-life-size puppets for a new Connecticut Pollinator Pageant to be performed at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival in Downtown Storrs.

These free workshops will take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14 and 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. Workshop participants will be invited to perform in the community Connecticut Pollinator Pageant at the 16th annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.

The theme for this year's Ballard Institute community pageant for the Celebrate Mansfield Festival is-Pollinators! Connecticut pollinators are not simply honeybees and bumblebees. In addition, there are scores of native flies, bees, butterflies, bats, and beetles that make important contributions to our lives by pollinating crops. Working together, workshop participants will create over-life-sized masks and puppets representing their favorite pollinators. These puppets and masks will then be part of The Connecticut Pollinator Pageant, to be performed in Betsy Paterson Square at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.

No experience is necessary to participate in these free community puppet-building workshops, but registration is requested. Participants can come for one or both days and are not required to stay for the entire time. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for the workshop, or if you require accommodation to participate, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860-486-8580.

This community puppet project is sponsored by the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. For more information about the 16th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, visit downtownstorrsfestival.org.

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership is an independent, non-profit organization comprised of the Town of Mansfield, the University of Connecticut, and individual business members and residents. The Partnership seeks to foster the continued development, management, and promotion of Downtown Storrs. For more information about the Partnership, visit mansfieldmdp.org.

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