Évenement
From August 23 to 25, 2024, the 1.3 km Promenade Wellington will come alive for the 13th edition of the Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue.
Presented by Desjardins, the festival will offer an array of shows featuring puppets as fascinating as they are intriguing: inhabited puppets, girdle puppets, mouth puppets, stilt puppets, direct grip or rod puppets, exhibitions, etc.
This year, we’re opening our eyes and horizons wide to discover an abundant offering that promises to fill you with wonder! 👁️✨
“This year, the fifty or so artists taking part in this 13th edition will be creating something marvellous! They are tightrope walkers who, before your astonished eyes, perform miracles, often with “very little”. With the aim of democratizing the art of puppetry and making it accessible to all, it’s also a celebration of the resistance, resilience and ingenuity of the artists that you’ll see unfold before your very eyes!
Thank you, dear audience, for coming! Your continued presence gives the living arts their full value!” – Myriame Larose, Programming Director
EVENT HOURS
Friday, August 23: 7 pm to 9:30 pm
Saturday, August 24: 9:30 am to 5 pm
Sunday, August 25: 9:30 am to 5 pm
Free event!
*Only the indoor show at Quai 5160 – Maison de la culture de Verdun requires a ticket. Tickets on sale for $7!
Download the FEST app and make sure to follow the Marionnettes Plein la Rue Festival to make sure you won’t miss out on anything!
GETTING TO THE EVENT
The Marionnettes plein la rue festival takes place at various locations on Promenade Wellington in Verdun. Here's how to get there!
🟢 BY METRO - De l'Église station, Wellington exit (green line)
🚌 BY BUS - Lines 12, 37, 58, 61 and 350
🚴 BY BIKE OR BIXI - Several bike paths and BIXI stations nearby. On-street bicycle parking available.
🚗 BY CAR SHARE - More than 500 parking spaces nearby, including the Éthel multi-storey car park with 260 spaces.
♿️ ACCESSIBILITY - Several parking lots and drop-off points around the street for people with reduced mobility.
This year, 20 companies will blow your mind with over 45 performances of shows, screenings and outdoor workshops! 🎭
Come and enjoy free shows that will amaze young and old alike!
Departure B - Corner Galt / Wellington
Wandering performance
Let yourself be carried away into the magical world of four living street lamps, transporting us into a timeless interstice between the world of gas and electric street lamps...
On May 16, 1879, on the Champ-de-Mars in Montreal, a light went on... It was the city's first electric street lamp!
Gas streetlamps were then quietly forgotten. But before they fade forever, the streetlights light up one last time, one by one, all together, for one last dance... Silent witnesses, they will carry with them all the secrets that only the night allows... An ode to the nostalgia of a bygone era, to the rise of nightlife and to great historical changes!
Age: For all
Duration: 30 minutes
Stage 1 - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs presbytery grounds
Screening and shadow play
Artist Catherine Gignac creates ephemeral pictures with sand on a light table. The scenes come to life to the sound of music, and the image is projected live onto a large screen.
A unique performance not to be missed!
Age: For all
Duration: 10 minutes
*Show without spoken words
Stage 1 - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs presbytery grounds
Screening
A top chef welcomes us into his kitchen to pass on the art of muffin-making, following the Perfect Muffin recipe bequeathed to him by his late Aunt Lea.
Half clever, half silly, the chef makes his ingredients appear magical, talks to his pans and sprinkles the whole culinary process with a light touch of euphoria.
The short film “Le temps des muffins” is an adaptation of the children's play of the same name, which premiered in 2009 to great acclaim in Quebec and France.
Age : For all
Duration : 30 minutes
Stage 1 - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs presbytery grounds
Fixed performance
Come and discover three tales about nature, dinosaurs and princesses, in which each deal with success and persistence, self-confidence and courage.
Follow the adventure of a dinosaur on a journey of self-discovery; or the adventure of the dragon king's daughter, who must marry a young man who has to prove his qualities.
And meet a little blackbird who is training for his first trip south, but breaks a wing. Will he manage to find shelter through the forest to get through the winter?
Ages: 3 to 8
Duration : 45 minutes
Stage 2 - Small presbytery grounds | Corner of Galt and Wellington streets
Puppet-making workshop
A creative oasis in the city! Théâtre des petites âmes and Desjardins are offering a creative halt inspired by its tactile and sensory garden: le jardin des petites âmes.
To frame this creative space, Théâtre des petites âmes will be offering elements from its garden, where festival-goers can find (or rediscover) creatures they can manipulate, such as the crane, the garbage men and the caterpillars under the mushroom.
In the heart of the garden, a large table invites visitors to come and make a colorful butterfly puppet. Using recyclable and compostable materials and watercolours, children will be invited to make a butterfly that they can take with them or leave in the garden!
Ages: 4 and up
Duration: continuous
Stage 5 - Salle des madelinots - Inside the Mouvement Social des Madelinots | 3690 Wellington Street
Fixed performance
As fisherman brings up a strange egg from the bottom of a pond, we meet this little being who is struggling to understand who he is.
Over time, he comes to terms with his difference. He doesn't quack like a hen, he doesn't quack like a duck, he doesn't hoot like an owl. Rejected and alone, he is pulled in extremis from the icy pond by a great swan, who finally understands him.
Behind an attractive set reminiscent of children's illustrations and clearly inspired by Tiffany lamps, director and performer Louis-Philippe Paulhus manipulates all the rod puppets. To enliven the scenography, a screen acts as a pond, in which the little Swan can see himself, thanks to animations.
Ages: 2 to 6
Duration: 30 minutes
*Show without words | Indoor show
10:30 am: Departure A - Regina and Wellington
1:30 pm: Departure B - Galt and Wellington
3:30 pm: Departure C - 4th Avenue and Wellington
Wandering
Meet Anna's hummingbird, the largest hummingbird in Canada! Try to catch her as she flies from flower to flower and person to person.
She'll be interacting with passers-by and festival-goers, handing out small gifts in the form of haikus about pollination or seeds they can plant.
Maggie Winston has created a strolling character dressed as a giant eucalyptus flower and manipulates an oversized flying hummingbird puppet.
Age : For all
Duration : 25 minutes
Departure from corner of Galt and Wellington
Wandering
Near every wreck lies treasure! For an endless time, Maya explored the depths of her inner being, finding only wreckage and debris, until the day she returned victorious, her treasure revealed, her Golden Source, bubbling with creativity, truth and light to share.
To celebrate this event, Goddesses and Gods, magical Beings and the Public are invited to the party!
Age : For all
Duration : 45 minutes
Stage 1 - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs presbytery grounds
Fixed performance
Le pêcheur et la Mouette (The Fisherman and the Seagull) by Marie-Hélène Grise and Thomas-Charles Jaquet is an adventure in three short episodes featuring a grumpy fisherman and a teasing seagull who plays tricks on him. All along the way, they're in for a wild and crazy ride.
From the docks to the beach, they'll always find a way to cross paths, for better or for worse. Let's follow this comic duo, inspired by the cartoon universe of the 50s, on their funny adventure!
This show was conceived during a creative course at UQAM's DESS en théâtre de marionnettes contemporain and presented for the first time to a young audience at the OUF 2024 festival.
Age : Young audience
Duration: 15 minutes
*Show without spoken words
Stage 7 - Quai 5160 Maison de la culture de Verdun
Fixed performance - indoors
Follow a circuit to discover some of the short cabinette puppet forms created by members of La Corporation L'Espoir, a non-profit organization in Greater Montreal supporting people with autism or intellectual disabilities and their families.
These short pieces, each lasting between one and three minutes, were created as part of a cultural mediation project in which participants were accompanied by puppeteers Mélanie Baillairgé and Elisabeth Bosquet to discover the world of puppetry and create a short form for one spectator at a time.
* Children under 8 accompanied by an adult do not need a pass to attend the event.
This cultural mediation project is made possible with the financial support of the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal under the Entente de développement culturel de Montréal.
Age: For all
Duration: Between 20 and 40 minutes
Free passes available at 5160 boul. LaSalle or for $2 online.
Departures: 10:30 am, 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm
*Limited places, first come, first served. Passes can be picked up at the info booth 30 minutes before the chosen departure time. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Limit of 4 passes per person.
Théâtre inattendu's “Le songeur, ou Tom le petit bonhomme en uniforme” is a moving journey through a child's imagination, exploring themes of freedom, creativity and resilience in the face of adversity.
*Show without spoken words
La guerre des boutons is a street theater project by Compagnie Tenon Mortaise, combining rod puppetry, object theater and acting for the whole family.
The project is a playful, imaginative adaptation of Louis Pergaud's famous novel “La guerre des boutons, roman de ma douzième année” (1912), which has been adapted to several films.
In less than two weeks, Jade and Malika will be cycling around the world together! Their plan is to follow the same route taken by Annie Londonderry, the first woman to cycle around the world in 1894, and make a documentary about it.
Their concept is clear: to parallel their own journey with the one taken by this Annie. They are seeking to understand whether things have really changed, and whether traveling by bike as women, and as a couple at that, can have a political impact!
Stage 6 - Church of the Epiphany grounds | 4322 Wellington
Fixed performance
The story of a mother and her son Gustave unfolds as the puppeteer offers his methods of creating puppets from objects.
The mother and Gustave leave their country to live elsewhere. Gustave leaves his friends, his family, his home, his school, his grandfather... He cries out his distress, his losses, his boredom. His mother consoles him and tells him of the future that awaits him.
Once they've arrived in this new town, with its completely different architecture and inhabitants who speak a different language, they get on with life!
Ages: 4 and up
Duration: 30 minutes
Stage 2 - Small presbytery grounds | Corner of Galt and Wellington streets
Puppet-making workshop
A creative oasis in the city! Théâtre des petites âmes is offering a creative halt inspired by its tactile and sensory garden: le jardin des petites âmes.
To frame this creative space, Théâtre des petites âmes will be offering elements from its garden, where festival-goers can find (or rediscover) creatures they can manipulate, such as the crane, the garbage men and the caterpillars under the mushroom.
In the heart of the garden, a large table invites visitors to come and make a colorful butterfly puppet. Using recyclable and compostable materials and watercolours, children will be invited to make a butterfly that they can take with them or leave in the garden!
Ages: 4 and up
Duration: continuous
Stage 1 - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs presbytery grounds
Fixed performance
“Pomme qui roule n'amasse pas mousse” is a short form produced as part of the course Tendances artistiques du théâtre de marionnettes in the DESS en théâtre de marionnettes contemporain program at UQAM.
The 15-minute presentation follows the adventures of a raccoon in pursuit of an apple. His quest, while seemingly straightforward, takes on far-reaching proportions when he has to travel long distances and take on many forms in order to acquire the much-desired treasure.
Inspired by comic strips, and more particularly by the work of Scott McCloud, the show takes the form of a stylistic exercise in which our friendly raccoon moves from girdle puppetry, to fragmented puppetry, to miniature, to object theater and, finally, to masked play. We transform this simple dramaturgy into an amusing and surprising experience by moving from scale to scale, like comic-book squares.
Age : For all
Duration: 15 minutes
*Show without spoken words
Stage 4 - Parc des Madelinots | LaSalle and Wellington intersection
Fixed performance
Four short forms based on the universe of Pippi Longstocking in the boxes of Collectif les Cabinettes!
For this new project, the collective wanted to put forward a resolutely feminist model and inspire children to break with convention and be completely themselves, using Pippi as a role model.
Age: For all
Duration: Continuous - 4 cabins of 3 mins. each
12:30 and 2:30 pm: Departure B - Galt corner / Wellington
4pm: Departure D - Corner of 5th Avenue / Wellington
Wandering
Inspired by the artistic universe of Salvador Dali, “T'as Bonne Mine” offers a surreal and unusual vision of a deconstructed puppet face.
Evolving to the rhythm of vaporous, psychedelic music, this creation manifests itself in singular ways, adopting a variety of forms depending on the perspective.
A living, strange sculpture, T'as Bonne Mine is an attraction that captivates, entertains and fascinates audiences.
Age: For all
Duration: 30 mins
Stage 3 - Public place Wellington | In front of 4155 Wellington
Fixed performance
Through hand balancing, acrobatics, object manipulation, dance and comedy, Compagnie du pigeon questions what drives us towards each other.
“En s'attendant” examines the beauty and absurdity of human relationships, and is aimed at audiences of all ages, origins and social backgrounds. Expression through movement and music is particularly inclusive.
Age: For all
Duration: 25 minutes
*Show without spoken words and figurative puppet
Throughout the event, you’ll be able to admire the photo exhibition La marionnette et Jean Cummings, developed in collaboration with the Association québécoise des marionnettistes (AQM), which highlights the work of Jean Cummings, notorious puppeteer who passed away in 2023.
This exhibition is a journey through the many aspects of his work; an opportunity to become familiar with different types of puppets, through the characters he manipulated or created, and the companies he collaborated with throughout his life.
A celebration of his legacy and genius. Because his characters still come to life, because life lives on through his strings, his rods and his ideas.
CONTINUOUS ON PROMENADE WELLINGTON
Friday, August 23 to Sunday, August 25, 2024
In front of 4932 Wellington, between 4th and 5th avenues.
Jean Cummings et Caméra sur 3 pattes | Théâtre de l’Oeil
Quai 5160-Maison de la culture de Verdun is hosting the indoor show L’amour te reviendra by Collectif Ausgang on Sunday August 25.
L’amour te reviendra is a wordless puppet show in which music plays an important role. When we meet Béa, a tiny little girl living alone in an old kettle in the middle of the forest, she looks for friends among the creatures that surround her.
Her world is turned upside down when she discovers an egg in a chickadee’s nest and decides to steal it, in the hope of finding friendship. The play explores the themes of solitude, friendship and resilience through our connection to nature.
Ages: 4 to 8
Duration: 40 minutes
Performance times: 11 am and 1:30 pm
SOLD OUT
L’amour te reviendra | Photo: Sylvie-Ann Paré (2022)
What kind of shows can I expect when I come to the Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue?
The mission of the Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue is to offer the widest possible range of puppet creations, in terms of the types and sizes of puppets, the forms of the shows, and the origins and experience of the artists. A multitude of propositions are offered to you, dare the tiny as well as the giant and the poetic as well as the playful. This year, we’re opening up our horizons!
How do I get to the site?
As the Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue takes place on Promenade Wellington, the site is accessible in several ways. To reduce your environmental footprint, we recommend active or public transportation:
🟢 BY METRO – De l’Église station (Green line)
🚌 BY BUS – Lines 12, 37, 58 and 61
🚲 BY BIKE OR BIXI – Bike path along the waterfront and rue de Verdun. Several BIXI stations nearby and nearby bike parking.
🚗 BY CARSHARING – More than 500 parking spaces nearby, including the 260-space Éthel parking garage. For a parking map, click here!
ACCESSIBILITY – Several street-side parking lots and drop-offs for people with reduced mobility.
Where can I consult the program, schedule and locations of the shows?
Everything can be found on the event page of our website in the “Outdoor programming” section. Once on site, visit the information booth at the corner of Galt and Wellington for more information or check the boards near the metro stations et differents stages.
Alternatively, you can download the FEST app, where you can have all the information at your fingertips and see in real time where the shows are taking place.
It’s free and super-easy to use. We recommend it!
Is there a charge for shows?
All programming is free. Only the indoor show at Quai 5160 – Maison de la culture de Verdun is ticketed. Tickets are on sale for the low price of $7. You can get them here.
Is it possible to reserve a seat for a show in advance?
All shows are on a first-come, first-served basis.
We therefore recommend that you arrive a little early to make sure you have a seat, as the capacity is sometimes limited!
Are there toilets on site?
Yes, there are two washrooms on the corner of Wellington and De L’Église, including one for the mobility-impaired. You can always use the restrooms in the stores, in exchange for a small consumption! 😉
Will there be food and drink stalls?
The great thing about holding a festival on Promenade Wellington is that there’s a wide range of cafés and restaurants nearby! Don’t hesitate to quench your thirst and have a bite to eat at one of our merchants.
Fancy seeing a street performance from one of the Well’s many terraces? Refer to the program and our terrace guide to find one nearby.
Can I bring my dog on site?
Dogs must be on a leash. Please note that the show is expected to be very crowded, so if your pet is not comfortable in crowds, it may be best to leave it at home!
Are shows postponed in case of rain?
As much as possible, all shows are maintained, depending on the intensity of the weather and the type of show. If a show has to be postponed or shifted, you’ll be notified via the mobile app, our social networks and Facebook event.
Final pro tips:
- Be on time! Out of respect for the artists, some performances will no longer be accessible once the show has started.
- Be eco-friendly: bring your own reusable water bottle. Street vendors will be happy to fill them for you.
If you have any further questions or queries on site, please refer to the info booth at the corner of Galt and Wellington (near the statue).
Alternatively, write to us at [email protected].
As the Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue approaches, we’re looking for available and motivated volunteers to assist us during the event from Friday, August 23 to Sunday, August 25, 2024.
Would you like to join our team for a weekend? Fill in the form below!
We look forward to meeting and working with you!
Come and lend a hand!
Welcome visitors to the site, provide information about the festival and its programming, and help them find their way around.
Greet artists, help unload and move equipment to the stage. Help artists as needed, welcome spectators, ensure smooth running of the show (noise, disturbance).
Greet artists in dressing rooms, receive or deliver food and snacks. Take care of the buffet for artists and volunteers.
Substitution on the various shifts during breaks and rotation.
Lots of other little tasks to help us out!
Compensation
- Lunch provided
- Summery, festive and fun in an outdoor setting!
- Help promote puppetry culture and art in the community.
Join the fun!
Thanks to our partners
The Festival Marionnettes Plein la rue is presented by
Thanks to our partners
