Syracuse's International Arts and Puppet Festival continues despite rain

Even though they couldn’t see a puppet parade or outdoor circus acts, families had fun with rainy-day activities at this year’s International Arts and Puppet Festival.

Saturday’s rain forced Open Hand Theater, which hosted the event, to move all activities inside because picturesque puppets wouldn't have survived the rain, volunteer Kathy Ferro said. “The festival had to be made much simpler," she said, "but the spirit is still here.”

Photo: Ricardo Imbert

Despite the dreary weather, energetic groups performed indoors at the International Arts and Puppet Festival.

“The purpose is for people to mix and have fun,” said Open Hand Theater’s Artistic Director Geoffrey Navias. “The international community here at Syracuse is represented in the art. That’s where the mixing part comes in.”The annual festival, a free event in the city’s Northside, brings people from various cultures together to enjoy puppet shows and interactive art displays.

At the corner of North Salina and Ash streets, the roads were sealed off from traffic to accommodate the festival and host a large crowd, but heavy rain forced most of the action inside. Although some of the events had to be canceled, festivalgoers were not deterred.

“Yesterday we looked at the outdoor areas and had to realistically decide what we could relocate indoors and made the rain plan,” said Managing Director Allie Herryman. “The festival is meant to be outdoors, but everyone has been super accommodating. We are grateful to the people that were able to brave the weather.”

Inside the Castle, which houses the museum at 518 Prospect Ave., children played with puppets, sported masks that they made at the art workshop, swarmed around the gift shop and danced to live music by Samba Laranja, a Brazilian percussion ensemble based in Syracuse University.

Outside, food trucks and kiosks, such as Salt City Coffee and That’s What’s Up food truck, served hot meals to families huddled under umbrellas and children who made sport of the rainy weather. Upstairs, puppeteers staged The Stone Cutter to a jam-packed room.

“Obviously, the weather is a shame, but it still turned out really nice, and I like the different cultures you get to see,” visitor Eric Mataras said while enjoying lunch with his son and wife. “We’re used to bad weather. If we didn’t do much because of the weather here in Syracuse, we wouldn’t get a lot done.”

The festival also featured children’s mask- and puppet-making workshops, juggling lessons, a magic show, live performances by various musical groups, quiet story hours, various puppet shows and access to the Museum of International Masks and Puppets.

Open Hand Theater has a particular connection to SU. Navias, the art director, teaches a puppetry course at the university, and students often interact and participate with the theater.