Whistler Children's Festival Presents

Hand Puppetry Workshop with Ventriloquist Kellie Haines

• Date: Saturday, May 21, 2022
• Time: 12:30pm
• Venue: Maury Young Arts Centre
• Age recommendation: 8-12 year olds
• Price: $10 Registration

Join us for a fun and interactive puppet-making workshop and enter into the exciting world of puppetry and ventriloquism with expert Kellie Haines.

You will start the class with a basic hand puppet made from a sock, cardboard and foam rubber and then you will let your creativity run wild, adding their features (eyes, nose, hair, horns, ears, wings – anything you want!) Your puppet will have the character and personality YOU want it to have. Kellie will teach puppetry and ventriloquist techniques to help your puppet speak and express itself- they might even sing! Puppets have many talents. Kamilla the frog and Magrau the bird will also be there to meet you and your new puppet friends.

Kellie Haines Bio:

Kellie Haines started talking to her puppets at the age of 8, and when they started talking back, she knew she had a show! Kellie is now a seasoned ventriloquist, puppeteer and family entertainer. Her shows combine a witty repartee with puppet characters everyone can relate to, songs you can dance and sing along to, and intertwine important themes such as believing in yourself, embracing diversity and celebrating nature. “Puppets have stories to tell,” she has said, “and they can bring out voices and characters from inside us that we didn’t know were there!”

Kellie Haines performs at festivals, schools and theatres across Canada. She has also shared her puppetry talents on several television productions. In 2019 Kellie was invited to consult, perform, and present workshops at the Museum of Anthropology in BC during their Shadows, Strings and Other Things exhibition and represented Canada at Vent Haven International Convention in Kentucky, USA.

Kellie’s shows are hilarious and full of spontaneity. Her technical skills with ventriloquism invite her audiences to experience storytelling in a unique and magical way, with even adults wondering who is pulling the strings!