Puppets For Peace Inc

What Puppets For Peace Inc does

Puppets For Peace Inc is a private community arts festival organization headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 2014 to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace. The organization produces an annual multi-day puppetry festival and parade combining giant-puppet processions, puppet-making workshops for children as young as age 3, ticketed live performances, and free public events staged across venues including the Fairfield Community Centre, Bay Centre (Puppet Central), Centennial Square, The Roxy Theatre, and Government House of BC. Festival programming emphasizes intergenerational community participation, First Nations storytelling (with featured artist Roy Henry Vickers and Songhees Elder Joan Morris), and senior outreach through a partnership with Ptarmigan Theatre. Under Festival Director Tim Gosley, a Gemini-award winning puppeteer with Fraggle Rock and Canadian Sesame Street credits, the organization draws on a network of puppeteers from across Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg) and internationally (Japan), affiliated with Puppeteers of America and UNIMA.

The operational model is event-driven and grant-funded rather than technology-driven. Core products are the annual Festival & Parade, the Puppet Central pop-up, puppet-making workshops, live performances, the SMILIN' senior variety show, and themed productions such as Roy Henry Vickers' Peace Dancer; the technology stack is essentially non-proprietary and consists of a WordPress website and a Facebook page plus a Brown Paper Tickets integration for the limited ticketed inventory ($5-$20 CAD per ticket). The organization holds no patents, ships no software product, and exposes no APIs.

The revenue model is a hybrid of public and private arts funding. The largest revenue streams are sponsorships and grants from the British Columbia Arts Council, City of Victoria, Capital Region District, Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria, Greater Victoria Public Library, and Government House of BC, with supplementary income from ticketed performances, donation-based workshop fees ($5-$20), fundraising events (e.g., the P.K. Page Puppet Plays), raffles, and community donations. Free event programming dominates the audience proposition, with paid attendance scoped narrowly to a subset of theatre performances. The organization operates with 1-10 employees and a thin infrastructure built around Tim Gosley, Theatre Inconnu, and partner community associations.

Name

Puppets For Peace Inc

Legal name

Puppets for Peace

Website

https://puppetsforpeace.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Puppets For Peace Inc is a Victoria, BC-based nonprofit arts organization that produces an annual puppetry festival and parade celebrating the UN International Day of Peace through free community events, ticketed performances, puppet-making workshops, and outreach to families, First Nations communities, and seniors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts Festival

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Puppetry & Marionette Theatre (MPAGABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Parades, Carnivals & Street Fairs (MPAGAEAE), Civic & Municipal Festivals (City Days, Public Celebrations) (MPAGAEAA), Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN)

Keywords

• Community arts festivals
• Peace celebration events
• Puppet performance workshops
• Cultural arts programming
• Community parade productions

Headquarters

HQ city

Victoria

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorships and Grants: The organization receives funding from government arts councils (British Columbia Arts Council), municipal sources (City of Victoria, CRD), and community organizations (Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria, Greater Victoria Public Library). These sponsorships support festival operations.
2. Performance Admissions and Fundraisers: Individual performance tickets sold at $5-$20 CAD for ticketed shows. The organization holds periodic fundraisers including P.K. Page Puppet Plays events with traditional Persian music and food.
3. Workshop and Activity Fees: Some workshops and activities operate on a suggested donation basis ($5-$20) or by donation model, particularly puppet-making workshops at Puppet Central locations.
4. Donations: Community donations including raffle prizes (such as the Dove Mandala painting by Kristi Bridgeman) and general contributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Puppets For Peace Inc produces an annual intergenerational community puppetry festival and peace parade in Victoria, BC, held each September to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Peace. Its programming combines free public community events (puppet-making stations, opening ceremonies, the parade), ticketed puppet performances, donation-based workshops, a temporary Puppet Central pop-up space in The Bay Centre, and partnership-based outreach such as the SMILIN' senior variety show presented with Ptarmigan Theatre.

Product overview

Puppets For Peace Inc operates as a cultural arts organization running an annual puppet festival and peace parade in Victoria, BC. The core offering is the Puppets for Peace Festival & Parade, which includes Puppet Central popup locations, puppet-making workshops, live performances, and special events like Roy Henry Vickers' Peace Dancer. The organization also provides SMILIN', a senior-focused variety show through a partnership with Ptarmigan Theatre. The organization is not a technology company and does not offer software products, APIs, or digital services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Puppets for Peace Festival & Parade An annual intergenerational community puppetry festival and peace parade held in Victoria, BC each September to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace; combines free public events (puppet-making stations, opening ceremonies, parade), ticketed performances, workshops, and a parade from Craigdarroch Castle to Government House.
• Puppet Central A temporary pop-up workshop, performance, and display space at The Bay Centre shopping mall (1150 Douglas Street, 3rd floor, Victoria) operating in the weeks before and during the festival; presents puppet displays from around the world alongside workshops and demos.
• Puppet-Making Workshops Hands-on community workshops teaching participants of all ages (children age 3 and up, families) to construct puppets including jellyfish, fish heads, starfish, butterflies, peace doves, heart puppets, rod puppets, and sock/muppet-style puppets; offered on a suggested donation or by-donation basis.
• Ticketed Puppet Performances Live puppet performances and variety shows staged as part of the festival, featuring puppeteers and companies such as Lost & Found Puppet Co., Mind of a Snail, Karen Prell, and others; pricing ranges from $5 to $20 CAD per ticket sold via Brown Paper Tickets.
• SMILIN' Senior Variety Show A puppet variety show designed for senior audiences, presented in partnership with Ptarmigan Theatre (Ptarmigan Music and Theatre Society) at senior centers throughout Victoria, BC; offered at a special festival price.
• Roy Henry Vickers' Peace Dancer A 2017 featured production celebrating First Nations stories and the Salish Sea, created in collaboration with Tsimshian artist Roy Henry Vickers; involved banner carriers, salmon and bird puppeteers, canoe and wave performers, and drummers performing in the parade and at Government House.

Quantifiable outcome

• 700+ parade participants in 2014
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Fairfield Gonzales Community AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the annual Puppets for Peace Festival and Parade. Provides venue (Fairfield Community Centre) and community network for event promotion and participant recruitment.
• Government House of BCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial host of the festival's closing ceremony and main stage performance on UN International Day of Peace. Her Honour Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of BC, participates in opening ceremonies. Parade concludes at Government House grounds.
• Community Arts Council of Greater VictoriamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelped apply for funding and secured the Puppet Central storefront at The Bay Centre. Assisted with festival organization and promotion.
• Greater Victoria Public LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a sponsor providing venue access or promotional support for festival events.
• Theatre InconnucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Victoria theatre company affiliated with Festival Director Tim Gosley. Hosts festival presentations and events.
• Ptarmigan Theatre (Ptarmigan Music and Theatre Society)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to present SMILIN' variety show for seniors at senior centers. Joint initiative to expand festival reach beyond annual festival dates. Special festival pricing arrangement.
• Pacific People's PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered for panel discussion on Puppets, Performance and Social Change. International cultural exchange organization supporting peace initiatives.
• Roy Henry Vickers (Tsimshian Artist)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured artist for 2017 festival. Created Peace Dancer artwork and participated in parade and Government House performance celebrating First Nations stories and the Salish Sea.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Theatre Inconnu: Victoria theatre company affiliated with Puppets for Peace through Festival Director Tim Gosley. Comparable as a small Victoria-based experimental/community theatre producing live performance programming.
• Bread and Puppet Theater: Vermont-based politically engaged puppet theater company running large-scale pageants, parades, and community workshops. Comparable in combining giant puppet parades, peace/social themes, and free community participation, though operating on a much larger and longer-established scale.
• Great Small Works: New York-based puppet theater company producing community spectacles, parades, and political pageants using giant puppets. Comparable in mixing social/political themes with participatory community performance and workshop-based production.
• In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre: Minneapolis-based puppet and mask theatre that produces an annual community puppet parade (May Day) plus year-round performances and workshops. Most directly comparable in terms of combining community parades, puppetry, and social-justice themes with a small non-profit operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Calgary International Children's Festival: Multi-day performing arts festival for young audiences in Calgary. Comparable as a Canadian regional family-focused arts festival featuring puppetry, with established institutional funding and a multi-venue model.
• Puppeteers of America: National membership organization supporting the U.S. puppetry community, including regional festivals. The Puppets for Peace 2014 festival was explicitly hosted as a Puppeteers of America Pacific Northwest Regional Festival, making this a direct organizing peer and partner network.

Regional players

• Snafu Dance Theatre: Victoria-based dance-theatre company that participated in Puppets for Peace 2015. Comparable as a small Victoria performing-arts non-profit producing mixed-genre live work for community audiences.
• Vancouver Puppet Theatre: Vancouver-based puppet theater that has participated in Puppets for Peace events. Comparable in product (puppet performances and workshops for families) and serves a nearby West Coast Canadian market.
• Ptarmigan Music and Theatre Society: Victoria-based arts non-profit and direct partner of Puppets for Peace, co-producing the SMILIN' senior touring show. Comparable as a small Victoria community-arts organization with a performance-and-workshop model.

Emerging players

• Handmade Puppet Dreams: Independent short-film puppet series screened at Puppets for Peace 2015. Comparable as a small-scale puppet-media initiative whose content is featured in community festival programming rather than produced by the festival itself.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/puppetsforpeace
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/puppets-for-peace-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Puppets For Peace Inc