By Andrew Periale, editor Puppetry International magazine

I recently returned from the fabulous FIAMS, or, Festival International des Arts de la Marionnette à Saguenay. This was the 15th iteration of the biennial festival, which is to say, the thirtieth anniversary of its founding. Saguenay is a town several hours drive north of Québec City.  The landscape is beautiful and the people are a fun-loving, artistic lot. In the six days of the festival there are puppet companies from all over the world performing from morn to midnight. There are lots of shows for families, street theater, museum exhibits, lectures and panel discussions. Our own Manuel Morán had a showing of his documentary about puppetry in Puerto Rico (see review in Puppetry International #45). There are also plenty of shows for adult audiences and a late night cabaret featuring music and dancing so that festival-goers and performers can unwind after a busy day.

I was there in my role as editor of Puppetry International and continued the “PI Challenge,” in which representatives of UNIMA-USA bring issues of PI to festivals in other countries and give them to puppet people who might spread the “gospel” of international friendship and understanding through the art of puppetry.

For more on this wonderful festival, see my review of FIAMS 2017 in Puppetry International [page 32, PI #42]. There will be more reviews and articles in upcoming issues of both the Puppetry Journal and Puppetry International.