Puppet Power
Nic Hinrichsen from London has been running a puppet workshop at Glastonbury for an astonishing 20 years. Starting in the Green Field way back when, he has, for some time now been happily ensconced in the Kidz Field ‘making things’ tent where his philosophy of producing something good out of rubbish prevails. In 1982 when the festival was called the Green Gathering he began his puppet shop using bits and pieces he collected around the site: paper cups, straws etc. Evolution means that the rubbish he uses today comes from fabric wholesalers and organisations like Hackney Scrap Store.
He has two main objectives: firstly to give children the opportunity to make something they can keep and take home with them and secondly to always use recycled materials. He also believes in ‘doing it on the ground’ which involves spreading a large cloth on the floor of the tent, putting a pile of this and that in the middle of it and inviting everyone to pile in. All his staff are volunteers, often art students who encourage the children to use their own creativity.
Nic says that one of the most rewarding aspects of his time at the festival each year is to walk through the family field on Sunday and see his little puppets sticking out of the ground marking their creator’s tents! Nic is also responsible for that nasty Mister Punch, also a regular in the kidz field.
See more of Nic at www.nicada.co.uk
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