Puppets dressed in colourful attires came alive at JSS Auditorium in Jayanagar on Friday, during the first ever International Puppetry Festival in the City.

The festival brought to fore several scintillating puppetry performances of various styles. While some were dance-based, others had message on child education, polio and others, winning applauds from the audience.

 Channappa, a puppeteer from Nanjangud in Mysuru district, is happy with the people’s response. “This is the third time we are performing in the City,” he said and added that the art form needs encouragement.

The three-day festival will see a total of 17 performances besides a few presentations.

The opening day saw vivid talks on topics like ‘Raagas in Puppetry,’ ‘Karnataka String Puppets - a Historical Perspective,’ ‘Nature, Art and Puppetry’ and ‘How the Bharatanatyam Puppet Dancer became the Ideal Actor’ besides panel discussions by artists from different parts of India and other countries like Belgium, France and USA.

Jageneau Dimitri, Director, Puppeteer and Curator from Royal Theatre Peruchet International Puppet Museum, Belgium who will be presenting a paper on Saturday seems rather excited.

“Of all forms, I like string puppetry the most. I will be presenting a paper on ‘Experiences from the peruchet Theatre and the techniques of puppetry in theatre,” he said.

Anupama Hoskere, Founder Director from Dhaatu said that the objective of the festival was to spread awareness about puppetry among the people. Calendars, key chains and other artifacts based on puppetry were also up for sale.