Sneak Peek Inside: Puppet Place Open Doors Weekend

Jul 09, 2025

Our friends at Puppet Place are welcoming the public into their magical creative space once again – and this is not to be missed.

I highly recommend going to see this fab team of people and their brilliant venue in Bristol"

📍Unit 18 Albion Dockside Estate, Hanover Place, Bristol BS1 6UT
Free to attend – booking required for studio tours

Booking essential – 30-minute slots available throughout the day

Get a rare behind-the-scenes look at Puppet Place’s creative hub – a treasure trove of puppets, props, models, and animatronics.

Meet some of the UK's most imaginative makers and performers, including:

Rusty Squid – creating cutting-edge sensory robotic art fused with hand-crafted puppetry
Pickled Image – award-winning puppetry company behind Santa’s Little Trolls and Coulrophobia
Max Dorey – multi-award-nominated theatre designer
Rebecca Wood – UK-based designer for performance
Sophie Clayton – designer and model maker
Lizzie Johnson – model maker, animator, and workshop leader (Interview with Lizzie Johnson)

No booking required – open all day

Explore the Moving Object Exhibition, a playful and innovative showcase from resident artists and guests, featuring:

Meet the minds behind the magic:

The Moving Object Group
Otherstory – telling powerful stories of outsiders through puppetry
Hanna Habermann – puppet maker, designer, and visual artist
Nick Willsher – creative technologist exploring object-human interaction
Jennifer Dingwall – illustrator and stop-motion animator (@jenuinely_jen)
Richard Sewell – experimenting with actuated inflatable objects
Mogshade – a new company working with robotics, animatronics and puppets (YouTube Channel)

Just turn up and get making!

Create your very own puppet inspired by Bristol’s harbourside – fun, creative, and perfect for families.

Find Puppet Place on Hanover Place, near the SS Great Britain. Look for the blue-fronted rehearsal studio and follow the signs.

🚫No parking on site — nearby street parking or pay & display by SS Great Britain
🚌Easy access via M2 Metrobus – alight at SS Great Britain stop

Puppet Place Open Doors is part of Bristol Open Doors, produced by the Architecture Centre.
Explore more events at bristolopendoors.org.uk
Follow the excitement:
📸 Instagram: @BrisOpenDoors
📘 Facebook: BrisOpenDoors