Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival is a professionally curated, accessible and sustainable event for everyone, presenting highly skilled performances from the UK and overseas, in the beautiful Georgian spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

Discovering the joy of puppetry inspires, engages, and enriches our community through a shared enjoyment of creativity and live performance.

Our passion is for providing entertainment, creating empathy and wonder through shows, workshops and public events that showcase puppetry in all its forms.
We believe in co-creation and collaboration to engage and transform Tunbridge Wells into a stage of possibilities.

The much-loved Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival 2026 (TWPF) returns for its seventh year and will take place from 26 – 31 October. The festival, being delivered by hugely experienced Festival Director, Mehdi Razi, and a board co-chaired by TWPF gurus Hayley Chester and Alison Bundy, will celebrate world class puppetry in all forms, because not all puppets have strings.