From September 2 to 5, Podgorica will host the 13th International Puppetry Festival "Podgorica - Montenegro 2026", which will be held in the KIC "Budo Tomović", as part of the Podgorica Cultural Summer. This year's festival will gather six theaters from six countries - Bulgaria, Brazil, North Macedonia, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro. The audience will have the opportunity to watch the performances of different poets, who bring stories intended for children and young people through puppetry.
Festival participants:
Trgovishte State Puppet Theater - Bulgaria The play "Carlson"
Cia Casa Passarinha, Sao Paulo – Brazil The performance "Let's fly without wings"
IN Theater of Albanians for children and young people, Skopje - North Macedonia The play "The Fable with the Fox"
Nina Theater, Monopoli - Italy Play "Do it with all your heart"
Theater for children and young people, Kragujevac - Serbia Play "Alice's Dreams"
Berane Culture Center - Montenegro Performance "Jujube and thistle"
In addition to Podgorica, the performances will also be performed in Zeta and Tuzi, which will make the festival program available to the public in several locations. The festival is of a competitive nature, and the awards will be decided by an international expert jury, as well as a children's jury made up of elementary school students from Podgorica. The competitive character gives additional value to the festival, while at the same time the youngest audience is given the opportunity to participate in the selection of the best performance.
The organizer is the Children's Cultural Center, while the festival was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro, the Secretariat for Culture of the Capital City of Podgorica and KIC "Budo Tomović", along with sponsors, donors and friends of the event.
A detailed schedule of performances and information about the program will be published later on the official channels of the festival. In previous years, the international festival of puppetry gathered theaters from different countries and took place in several locations, with a competitive program and a children's jury. The organizers expect that this year's edition will gather a large number of children, parents and theater lovers and offer four days dedicated to puppetry, imagination and art for the youngest.