Join Puppet’s Up! for a one-night-only Cabaret performance in honour of Noreen Young. The cabaret was one of Noreen’s favourite parts of the Puppets Up! festival, and all the much-loved naughty nonsense will be included in this special uncensored adults-only evening, August 9th at 7:30pm.
Featuring hosts Stephen Brathwaite and Allan Martin with special puppet friends and guests including (but not limited to) some of your favourite performers like Joshua Holden, Nick di Gaetano, Peter Schaefer (Tanglewood), Matt Ficner, Frank Meshkuleit, Ann Powell (Puppetmongers), Joey Graff and Emily Neufeld (Department of Creative Disobedience), Ingrid Hansen (SNAFU), Adam Francis Proulx, and Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers.
In true Noreen style, we will all have some fun and also raise some funds! Proceeds will go to the Noreen Young Award for the Arts and the 2026 Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival.
Want to learn how to make a puppet sing, cry, and steal the show?
Join us for Puppetry 101, a joyful, one-afternoon-only workshop with Joshua Holden, who’s in Almonte to perform in Noreen’s Night of Nonsense Cabaret!
This is your backstage pass to puppet performance: learn all about hand and rod (Muppet-style) puppetry, including technical skills, such as lip synch, focus, and emotional truth. Through group exercises and solo presentations, this workshop will give participants the confidence they need to fully express themselves through a puppet and authentically connect to an audience. Participants are encouraged to bring their own puppets.
This workshop is open to all levels and guaranteed to spark joy. Spots are limited, so don’t wait! Tickets $75 ($50 if you’re attending the Cabaret)! All ticket sales go directly to supporting the Puppets Up! Festival.
Saturday, August 9th
12–3PM
Almonte Old Town Hall
About Joshua: Joshua Holden is an Emmy nominated multi disciplinary artist, puppeteer, actor, and full time joy-maker. Joshua freelances for The Jim Henson Company as a fabricator, puppet builder, and one of the puppet wranglers on Sesame Street! Learn more about Joshua here: https://www.wowjoshuaholden.
Puppets Up! is a biennial festival, bringing world-class puppetry to the streets of Almonte every two years. Mark your calendar: the full magic returns in August 2026!
Noreen’s contributions to Puppets Up! and the puppetry community touched people far and wide. For those who can’t attend the memorial service in person, we
The Noreen Young Award for the Arts celebrates the life and legacy of Noreen Young, OC (1939–2025)—a visionary puppeteer, television creator, and noted Almonte resident. Her
It is with profound sorrow that we mark the passing of Noreen Young, our founder and our friend, our artistic director and festival heartbeat,
