Oskaloosa, Iowa (RI) — The southeast Iowa town of Oskaloosa is hosting what’s known as The Uplifting Puppet Festival starting Monday and running two full weeks.
There will be daily workshops around town where kids and adults can create their own puppets, and the event will conclude with two puppet parades featuring dozens of handmade creations.
Brant Bollman, founder of the Uplifting Puppet Company, says the goal is to get the community involved in making unique art and having fun.
This is the festival’s second year in Oskaloosa, and in last year’s nighttime parade, Bollman got inside of his lighted, giant humanoid puppet and walked the route.
This year, he’s putting the finishing touches on his largest puppet yet, a 15-foot-tall extraterrestrial. Bollman’s using LEDs, durable fabric, and papier mache to bring the alien to life.
The first of the two Uplifting Puppet Parades is scheduled for 9 p.m. on Friday, June 11th, following the Friday After Five concert on the Oskaloosa town square.
Bollman says the plan is for a huge, homemade flying saucer to soar into the square.
The second parade will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 13th during Oskaloosa’s Art on the Square. He says the daytime puppet march gives audiences a chance to see the giant puppets in the light of day.
