IT is the event that’s a model of excellence – but be warned that there are strings attached. This Summer, the French Ardennes will be the stage for a show like no other.

The World Puppet Festival is taking place in Charleville-Mézières from September 19 to 28, bringing together puppets of all shapes and sizes from every continent.

It’s an event that has remarkably been staged in the region for more than sixty years, and is still going strong. In fact, this summer’s showcase is bigger than ever.

The normally quiet, historic town will be bustling with 155,000 spectators expected to attend what will be one of the largest-ever gatherings of puppets in the world.

More than 50 different venues across the town will host up to 250 performing companies from around 25 countries, offering everything from traditional to contemporary puppetry.

What’s more, many of the events during the Festival will offer free admission, with ticket prices for other shows ranging from a modest £4.95 to £16.50. 

It’s a fitting location. Charleville-Mézières boasts an association with the art which stretches back to 1941, when 17-year-old Jacques Felix introduced a puppet theatre to the town.

He saw it as a means of lifting spirits during the German occupation, but it started a tradition which saw the town become a centre for the creation and support of artists.

The Pôle International de la Marionnette (International Puppet Centre) has its offices here, alongside the Higher National School of Puppet Arts and the International Puppet Institute.

In 1991, the town unveiled what has become one of its most endearing tourist attractions, The Grand Marionnettiste – The Great Puppeteer’s Clock.

Every hour between 10am and 9pm, the clock, built into the façade of the Institut de la Marionette, presents an episode from a medieval saga titled the Four Sons of Aymon. The full story is also told in one complete showing every Saturday at 9.15pm.

Full details of the 23rd World Puppet Festival will be announced in June but, for now, there’s plenty about the event’s history and the tradition of puppetry in the Ardennes on the official website.

Charleville-Mézières is three hours’ drive from Calais, and linked from the UK with high-speed TGV trains via Paris of Lille. For tourism advice about the French Ardennes click here.

Images: Alice Thome, Herve Dapremont, Pilou08 / Velvet /Ardennes ADT