Puppet festival cancelled after 20 years

An East Yorkshire arts festival has been cancelled after it was not awarded any funding by Arts Council England.

Beverley Puppet Festival has been running every two years since 2006 and attracts performers from across the world.

Founder and artistic co-director Anna Ingleby said she was "deeply disappointed by the decision".

"Many weeks of work have already gone into continuing this in 2026, with a full programme of artist companies, venues and schools all lined up and ready to go, so it is extremely disappointing news for all of us," she said.

The weekend event was scheduled for July and would have featured a number of free events as well as theatre shows.

Ingleby thanked Arts Council England "for funding 10 festivals" adding: "To all the funders, staff, artists, partners, volunteers, venues, stakeholders and audiences who have supported the project over the past 21 years - thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

"We are incredibly grateful for your enthusiasm and commitment, and we are truly sorry that we cannot move forward as planned."

Despite the cancellation, a town trail featuring puppets in shop windows will still go ahead, Ingleby said.

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