Puppet Mania!

“The most sophisticated people I know – inside they are all children,” puppeteer and Muppets creator Jim Henson once said. Perhaps that explains why the Center for Puppetry Arts has become an Atlanta treasure for kids and adults, and continues to expand, with the grand opening of the Worlds of Puppetry Museum on Nov. 14.

The Museum

The 7,500-square-foot permanent exhibit space will include:

• Global Collection gallery highlighting puppetry in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
• The world’s most complete collection of Henson’s puppets, including Kermit, Miss Piggy and the other Muppets.
• Interactive exhibits that include Henson’s office and TV studio, a shadow puppet wall, playing with rod marionettes, and a creature workshop with fabric swatches and googly eyes.

Opening Day

Festival activities all day, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., with timed admission to the museum every 30 minutes.

• Walk-around characters including Sockly, the center’s mascot
• Puppeteers with hand-and-rod style puppets
• Surprise celebrity puppet appearances
• Create-A-Puppet Workshops  
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer puppet show, noon and 2 p.m.
• Food trucks

Buy tickets in advance to assure you’ll get in. Two ticket options: $10.50 museum only; $20.50 all-inclusive, for puppetry show, timed-entry to the museum, and the Create-A-Puppet Workshop.

Don’t miss the most famous reindeer of all!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Nov. 12-Dec. 27.
Kids will love seeing the beloved Christmas story come to life. The show is based on the television clay animation feature, Rudolph Saves Christmas, with his bright and shiny nose and his friends including Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snow Monster. Tickets, $20.50-24.50; younger than 2, free.

– Hayley Markowitz