The Goat on a Boat’s 25th Birthday Bash & Puppet Festival
June 27, 2026 10:00-2:00
Rain date June 28
Mashashimuet Park Playground
Sag Harbor, NY
Goat on a Boat’s Mash Park Puppet Festival is a one-day event for children (8 years and under) and their caregivers featuring free puppet shows, workshops, a parade and of course, birthday cake!
We’ve invited 5 female puppeteers, each with her own puppet company, to present 5 different shows throughout the day, using hand puppets, rod puppets, paper pop-up puppets and more. Each performance is 20-30 minutes in length. Minkie the Monkey will be our MC!
Sarah Frechette of Puppet Kabob Productions will provide walkabout marionettes.
Adelka Polak of Sova Theater presents a butterfly puppet making workshop
Carole D’Agostino will perform The Tiny Bird Show
Liz Joyce and Minkie the Monkey will have a special birthday message puppet show
Sarah Nolen of Puppet Motion will perform Judy Saves the Day!
This interactive day includes ongoing puppet making workshops throughout the day. Using a variety of materials, caregivers and children will have the opportunity to make their own puppets. Small stages will be set up where children can activate their puppets to life during the festival. One of the workshops is a collaborative experience where guests all work together to make a large puppet, which will be used during our parade at the end of the event.
2026 marks Goat on a Boat's 25th Birthday. The festival day will end with cake for all!
The festival will take place at Mashashimuet Park, near the playground. Goat on a Boat's Puppet Truck will be the main stage. It has a solar generator, a sound system and stage where the puppet shows will be performed. Around the area, there will be tables set up for the various puppet making workshops. We will have mats for people to sit on and we will encourage families to bring picnics and their own mats.
In the event of rain, our rain date is Sunday June 28th.
Leading up to our birthday celebration, we will host a series of puppet shows every Saturday in June, in Mashashimuet Park near the playground. The Puppet Truck will be onsite with bubbles, music and FREE puppet shows at 11:00 on June 6, 13 and 20th. We will be joined by community partners Shine Studio, JJML, and YES from SoFo Natural History Museum for fun activities. For more information, go to www.goatonaboat.org.
On Friday, June 26 at 8:00 pm Goat on a Boat will host a Puppet Slam for adults at the Masonic Temple in Sag Harbor. A puppet slam is an evening of short, naughty, funny or poignant puppet shows for adults featuring a variety of performers and puppetry styles.
June -26 Join Goat on a Boat in Mashashimuet Park for Puppet Fun Pop Up from 9-11:00. For kids 5 years and under. There will be live music, hands-on activities and a short puppet show.
June 29-July 3 Goat on a Boat will also host a week of PUPPET CAMPS for children ages 4-7 from 9:30-1:00 pm at Mashashimuet Park
Goatonaboat.org lists our upcoming events and has links to register for PUPPET CAMP
Mission
Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre is committed to inspiring creativity in young audiences through the art of puppetry, while also supporting emerging and established puppet artists by providing them with opportunities to share their work. We create, produce, and present live puppet shows and creative workshops and work to serve and collaborate with diverse audiences, artists, and community partners.
Goat on a Boat was founded in Long Island’s East End in 2001. In 2022, both in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to address ongoing inequities across our region, we created a mobile venue: our Puppet Truck & Mobile Stage. Rather than relying on audiences to come to a fixed venue, the Puppet Truck allows us to reach diverse communities across Suffolk County (New York) and beyond.
Values
We believe that the arts make life more vibrant; help create, connect, and strengthen communities; and should be accessible to all.
We support and promote the art of puppetry by partnering with local puppeteers as well as regional, national, and international puppet companies. We encourage the development of new work and provide mentorship, accountability, and presentation opportunities for puppet artists to share their work and creative processes with the public.