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Moving Parts Arts brings North East of England people together through arts, celebration and creativity.

Moving Parts Arts CIO (charity number 1194137) is an award winning arts and community development organisation founded in 2017. Our week-long puppet festival, dynamic outreach projects and participatory community events engage 20,000 people a year. 

 

A belief that everyone can be creative is at the core of what we do and that puppetry is a unique way of bringing people together and breaking down barriers. Our work is at its best when it is collaborative, accessible and celebratory. 

About

“So wonderful to have this in Newcastle. More please.”

– Audience member, 2019

Performers in Tyne Rising at the 2021 festival
Moving Parts:
Newcastle Puppetry Festival

Newcastle Puppetry Festival is our flagship project, which won The Journal Culture Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2018. The ambitious programme of events has taken place once every two years since 2017 and includes performances and workshops for adults, children and families, as well as talks, training and networking events for professionals. Responding to the challenges surrounding Covid-19, the 2021 festival saw large-scale outdoor commission Tyne Rising – a huge community puppet show at City Stadium about environmental conservation, which involved 150 Newcastle residents and a 20-strong team of creatives. This style of working was continued in the 2023 festival with the Wor Seahorse Spectacle Parade.

Winner of The Journal Culture Awards 2018 banner

“This is the first time I have had chance to do something like this.”

– Community project participant, 2019

Throughout the year we run bespoke community, education and career development projects in the city, such as Puppet School, Tyne Rising, Wor Seahorse Spectacle and Teeny Tiny Toon, to bring creativity into the lives of Newcastle residents. We focus our community projects in areas where there is the most need and are particularly committed to working in the West End of Newcastle. Our office and studio base at the John Marley Centre is in the heart of Scotswood in the West End. We also run the annual Scratch Space - a pop-up venue at festivals for artists to try out new puppetry and visual theatre work to get audience feedback.

Community projects
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Rod Puppet Pals workshops in schools