As the rain fell outside, a pair of imposing, lanky puppets slumped silently in the corner of the Castle-like building at 518 Prospect Avenue. The edifice's main tenant, Open Hand Theater, had changed its plans in light of Saturday's ugly morning downpours.
The International Arts and Puppet Festival took place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 13, though many of the events and performances scheduled to occur on the closed-off North Salina and Ash streets had to be moved indoors. Others, like Open Hand's giant puppet circus, were canceled entirely.
Still, the festival took on a renewed spirit inside the old building. As artistic director Geoffrey Navias said, "real life" interference like rain tends to throw scheduled plans for a loop. However, Navias, along with Open Hand staff members and festival volunteers, got creative and brought some of the outdoor activities inside.
“The fact that we could refocus it is tremendous.”
A spirited Bhutanese dance and a percussion performance by Samba Laranja, Syracuse University’s Brazilian ensemble, took place in the building’s parlor space. Downstairs, children designed dragon masks and cut out paper butterflies in the arts and crafts space.
Back outside, the food trucks and tent-based cuisine stayed on the street, warming families as they walked by. Servers from Bhutan House Restaurant served samosas nuzzled up next to cups of joe from Salt City Coffee. Both organizations participate in the Northside Urban Partnership’s business incubation program to help small food enterprises bloom.
Aaron Metthe, who owns Salt City Coffee, said his business currently survives entirely from online sales and pop-up events. He’s looking to change that.
“We’re putting everything in place to open up either a brick and mortar or a food truck.”
Despite the rain, this year’s International Arts and Puppet Festival still dazzled — it just had to do it indoors.