{"id":10299,"date":"2026-09-23T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/2026\/09\/23\/shared-experiences-and-the-joy-of-discovery-at-the-mukamas-2026-festival\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T09:44:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T06:44:50","slug":"shared-experiences-and-the-joy-of-discovery-at-the-mukamas-2026-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/2026\/09\/23\/shared-experiences-and-the-joy-of-discovery-at-the-mukamas-2026-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Shared experiences and the joy of discovery at the MUKAMAS 2026 festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tampere-based Teatteri Mukamas <\/strong>organized the MUKAMAS 2026 \u2013 International Puppet Theatre Festival from September 16 to 20. Held since 1999, the festival brought together top Finnish performers and hosted international guests from Canada, France, and Iceland. The event served as a powerful reminder of the incredible diversity of puppet theatre and the artistry of its creators. Creative ingenuity and playfulness were central to every performance. Gently shaken out of their routine, audience members experienced the tangible joy of sudden insight and discovery.<\/p>\n

Icelandic artist Aude Busson\u2019<\/strong>s Mannd\u00fdr <\/em>gathered the audience into a shared \u201cnest,\u201d with everyone receiving a wishing stone as a memento. Amidst delightful storytelling, the Canadian collective La ru\u00e9e vers l\u2019or<\/strong>\u2019s Arctic Tall Tales<\/em> illustrated the importance of human care in the demanding conditions of the Arctic. Two of Finland\u2019s most internationally acclaimed productions\u2014Grus Grus Teatteri<\/strong>\u2019s N\u00e4kym\u00e4tt\u00f6m\u00e4t maat <\/em>(Invisible Lands) and Company Portmanteau<\/strong>\u2019s Piste, piste, piste<\/em> (Dot, Dot, Dot)\u2014came to Tampere. Both productions tour the world extensively and are rarely seen in Finland. N\u00e4kym\u00e4tt\u00f6m\u00e4t maat portrayed the refugee experience with striking intimacy, deeply moving the audience. The festival also featured the premiere of Anne V\u00e4linoro<\/strong>\u2019s Liina-tango<\/em> (Scarf Tango), a touching piece depicting the various \u201cscarves\u201d or threads that weave through our lives.<\/p>\n

The festival culminated in a wonderfully well-attended Children\u2019s Sunday,<\/strong> which filled the yard of Teatteri Mukamas to capacity with a delightful atmosphere. The final performance of the festival was Portmanteau\u2019s Piste, piste, piste at the H\u00e4ll\u00e4 Stage. Audience members described the show as a magical experience and the perfect finale to a wonderful festival. A sense of community that transcended language barriers was felt among the audiences.<\/p>\n

The festival is a unique cultural event in the Pirkanmaa region. It is the largest provider of international children\u2019s programming among the events held in Tampere. As Finland\u2019s longest-running puppet theatre festival, it hosted a total of 32 events at Teatteri Mukamas, the H\u00e4ll\u00e4 Stage, Culture House Laikku, Haihara Puppet Theatre, and the Henneri Play Centre. Open-to-all side events included a lecture, free performances at Laikku, and MUKAMAS Music evening.<\/p>\n

Deeply moved by the magnificent performances and touching encounters, the team at Teatteri Mukamas extends its heartfelt thanks to all festival visitors, audience members, and partners.\"\u2764\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo: Sigur\u00f0ur Gunnarsson<\/em>
\nAude<\/span>Busson \/ <\/span><\/span>Ma<\/span>n<\/span>nd\u00fdr<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MUKAMAS 2026 \u2013 International Puppet Theatre Festival served as a powerful reminder of the incredible diversity of puppet theatre and the artistry of its creators. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10300,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299\/revisions\/10300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mukamasfestival.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}