70 years of puppetry: Esslingen celebrates with a big festival in October!

70 years of puppetry: Esslingen celebrates with a big festival in October!

The “SpielFormen – Festival of Moving Figures” will take place in Esslingen from October 16th to 19th, 2025, which is organized on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the puppeteers’ meeting founded in 1955. The festival will open on October 16 at 7:30 p.m. under the leadership of Cultural Mayor Yalcin Bayraktar. A special highlight of the event is the performance of the Tolkien classic “The Hobbit or There and Back Again” by the Wilde & Vogel puppet theater.

Another notable event at the festival is the silent performance “Kasper Kills the Flies” by Stefanie Oberhoff. This will be performed with an impressive 16 meter high Kasper on Rathausplatz, which will certainly attract many spectators. The program also includes nine other productions suitable for all generations, including both professional ensembles and amateur theater groups.

Variety of performances and locations

The festival will present a variety of pieces including:

• „Scaena Corpus“ des Figurentheaters Lukas Schneider
• Märchen „Schneewittchen“ im Papiertheater
• „Rawums (:)“ von florschütz & döhnert für Kinder ab zwei Jahren
• „vision.HAMLET.mission“ von Andreas Weiner im LIMA-Theater
• „Wunderkammer“ von Gottschalk Mürle Soehnle
• „Der Sturm“ und „Kalif Storch“ im Papiertheater Fachwerkhaus
• „Die Farm der Tiere“ von George Orwell vom Marionettentheater Kleines Spiel

The performances take place at various locations in Esslingen, including the WLB, the Centraltheater, the City Museum in the Yellow House and the KOMMA. The aim of the festival is to present the diversity of puppetry and object theater. This is underlined by the fact that the puppet theater has been established in the LIMA Theater for 40 years, and that the paper theater is also taken into account during the festival, supported by the J. F. Schreiber Museum in Esslingen.

Workshops and participation

In addition to the performances, the festival also offers a wide range of workshops. These include:

• Kurs „Bau einer Fadenmarionette mit Spielkreuz“ (75 Euro zzgl. Material)
• Weitere Kurse zu Marionettenspiel, Objekttheater, Papiermasken (jeweils 40 Euro pro Person)
• Kostenfreier Workshop „Ich bin die Stärkste im ganzen Land“ für Kinder

Registration for the workshops can be done via amateurtheater-bw.de/kurs or via email to museen@esslingen.de. These courses offer participants the opportunity to actively participate in the festival and contribute their own creative ideas.

The festival is organized by the cultural office of the city of Esslingen, the Baden-Württemberg State Association of Amateur Theaters. V., the Württembergische Landesbühne and the LIMA Theater. A solidarity ticket system allows viewers to choose from three price categories. Tickets have been available at Reservix ticket offices and online at reservix.de since September 1st. This comprehensive program reflects the commitment to offering a platform to both professional and amateur ensembles from all over Germany and to promoting exchange among cultural actors.

In summary, the “SpielFormen – Festival of Moving Figures” offers a diverse range of performances and workshops that appeal to both adults and children and celebrate the rich tradition of puppetry in Esslingen.

For further information please visit the website of Esslingen.de and VDP.de.