"Puppet Gumbo", the Southeast Regional Puppetry Festival is coming up
this June!  Located in beautiful and historic Savannah, Georgia, the
festival will run from Thursday, June 12 Through Sunday, June 15th.
It is being hosted on the campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Already lined up are such amazing performers as Blair Thomas, Hobey Ford,
IBEX, Tanglewood Marionettes, Madcap Puppets, Puppet People, Shiny Shoes
Children's Theater, and Custom Puppets.  Nearly a dozen workshops are
also lined up as well.  Of course, there's the ever popular Potpourri
as well as a Puppet Slam.  There's even a Savannah River Moonlight
Cruise on Thursday night!  What more could you ask for in a festival?

Register now if you haven't already - space in the on-campus lodging
is filling up fast: http://www.puppetlove.com/se2008/docs/registration.pdf

For more information on Puppet Gumbo 2008, please see the festival web site:

    http://www.southeastpuppetfestival.org/

One very special event is the festival's Street Fair, which will be held
on Saturday, June 14th in Johnson Square from 9 AM until 1 PM.  The Johnson
Square park is shady all over with two fountains.

The Street Fair will be open to the general public and will feature a flea
market, street performers, stage shows, make-n-take puppet crafts, and a
children's puppet parade.  The lead contact/point person for the street fair
is Lee Bryan ( ). Here's all the details on the fair for
those who are interested in participating in it:

SELL YOUR STUFF AT THE FLEA MARKET

The SE Regional Puppet Festival is not going to have an official puppet
store. But fear not, the street fair will be a great opportunity to sell all
your puppet stuff at the PUBLIC Flea Market!  This could be a fantastic
money maker for individuals or a fund raiser for your company/guild. The
street fair will not only be open to festival attendees but also open to the
general public!  Reserve your table(s) before we run out!   Table rentals
start at just $40/each and chairs are $1/each with no additional fees for
any puppet display stands you may want to bring.  Deadline is June 6.  Make
Checks payable to Puppet Gumbo 2008 and mail to Lee Bryan, PO BOX 78937,
Atlanta, GA 30357-2937 before June 6

Contact Lee Bryan -- to reserve your tables and chairs.


WALK ABOUT PUPPET AND MASCOT CHARACTERS

Bring a favorite puppet character to perform as a walk around?  Or maybe you
have a costume mascot character?   Or maybe you've got a giant parade puppet
you would love to bring to Savannah and do some walk about?

Contact Kevin Pittman -- to sign up for a time slot or
two.


MAKE-N-TAKE PUPPET CRAFTS

We need both supplies and volunteers to man booths.  We are looking for
guilds to gather up all of your left over puppet "make-n-take" Day Of
Puppetry supplies and bring them along to the Festival.   We plan to have
several booths so the public can make a puppet for free.  Or perhaps your
guild would consider donating some of the supplies (or your time) to man an
activity booth for your guild?  We need YOUR help to make this a huge
success.  There is no fee charged to the public for these make/take puppets.

Contact Yostie Ashley --

 
CHILDREN'S PUPPET PARADE

Would you like to help street fair attendees to construct and decorate giant
puppets culminating in children's puppet parade at the end of the festival?
All materials are provided and it is a great activity to take back to your
next National Day of Puppetry event.  Learn to create butterflies, birds,
giant flowers, people characters and more!

Contact Claire Ritzler -- to volunteer!


PARK DECORATING AND SET UP/TEAR DOWN
Of course we'll need a group of volunteers to help decorate the park
beginning at 8am and of course some folks to help pick up the decorations
after the fair ends at 1pm.

General needs day of street fair:
*       A drummer for the giant puppet parade around the park would be great
*        Kazoos and bubbles for parade folks - or any other noise makers.

Thanks for reading, and hope to see you at the festival!