Scottish Borders Council’s Arts Development team has recently helped secure funding for an exciting puppet theatre event for the Borders.

Ruffled Feathers, a community arts group based in Selkirk, has recently been awarded an ‘Awards for all’ grant from the National Lottery. The money will be used to run preparatory workshops for children and young people in advance of a fantastic pop-up puppet theatre event ‘Windows to the future’ next year in Galashiels.

The pop-up puppet theatres will be staged in four empty shop windows and people will see rod and shadow puppets, animation and scenery and audio soundtracks portraying the drama, humour and everyday high-street life starting at 1900 and leading to a visionary ‘Saturday of the future’ window.

Performances will start when shops open and finish when they close, with rolling looped five minute performances throughout the day. The changes in shops, transport and people will give shoppers, visitors, shopkeepers and participants a quirky but very real sense of place with added moments of visual intrigue and wonder. There will also be a surprise ‘street performance’ element that will create what Ruffled Feathers hopes will be an amazing and memorable day in Galashiels.

Councillor Vicky Davidson, Executive Member for Culture, Sport and Community Learning, explained: “The involvement and support of our Arts Development team has helped Ruffled Feathers shape up their exciting project and put together a funding bid. I watched some of their puppet making at a workshop during the recent WASPS art studios open day in Selkirk and it looked great fun for kids and adults alike. The plans for pop-up puppet theatre performances in shop windows will bring colour and fun to the centre of Galashiels but will also give young people a lot of creative enjoyment leading up to the events.”

Ruffled Feathers is encouraging young people from 6-16 years and supportive volunteers to sign up for out-of-school workshops which will involve puppet making, mask making, story development, animation, public performance, set building and more. The workshops will be run by experienced and inspirational artists from the Borders and further afield, local volunteers and, with the support of the council, will prepare for the ‘Windows to the future’ event on the last Saturday of the Easter holidays next year.

How you can get involved:

The free workshops will be run after school on two to three week days and a number of weekends at a central Galashiels venue from November through to March next year. Ruffled Feathers is also looking for enthusiastic people with an interest in arts, crafts and, even better, puppets and some experience of working with young people.

You can contact Ruffled Feathers via the email below or visit Moondogs café or the library in Galashiels to find out more details about times and dates, the project itself including ways of contributing memories and images for research.

For more information:

Email: ruffledfeatherspuppets@gmail.co.uk

Website: www.ruffledfeatherspuppets.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruffledfeatherspuppets – ‘Events’.