Uplifting Puppet Festival Expands to Two Parades for 2026

Jen Stillions Photography

OSKALOOSA — The Uplifting Puppet Festival is returning to Oskaloosa tonight and Saturday during Art on the Square. Organizer Brant Bollman says this year’s event will be bigger, stranger, and more interactive than ever before.

The 2026 festival, themed “Out of This World,” expands from a single parade into a two-week celebration of puppetry, artmaking, music, and community participation that will culminate in two separate puppet parades in downtown Oskaloosa.

“This year we wanted to go even bigger and stranger,” Bollman said. “We’re creating an immersive extraterrestrial experience filled with glowing puppets, interactive performance, music, movement, and community participation.”

For many in Oskaloosa, Bollman has become known as the person behind the giant puppets that have appeared at community events over the past several years. Through the nonprofit Uplifting Puppet Company, Bollman has built a reputation for creating large-scale puppets and interactive performances that bring people together through art.

“I like to say I mostly make big puppets and tell corny jokes,” Bollman said. “Most people know me as the big puppet guy.”

That “big puppet guy” has spent recent weeks working alongside youth and community volunteers to build one of the festival’s most ambitious creations yet.

The first parade experience will take place tonight, Friday, June 12, following Friday After Five on the Oskaloosa square. The evening will begin with a performance by the rock band Wicked Ways before transitioning into a nighttime lantern parade unlike anything previously seen in downtown Oskaloosa.

As the band’s final song, “Twilight Zone,” fills the square, festival organizers plan to stage a UFO landing complete with glowing alien puppets created by local youth participants.

But the highlight may be Bollman’s newest creation.

“The big boy is going to come,” Bollman said. “This is my newest creation. It is the tallest puppet I’ve ever made.”

The giant alien puppet stands approximately 16 feet tall.

“I’ve had to make sure it’s not going to hit trees,” Bollman said. “It’s pretty cool.”

The giant puppet is expected to emerge following the UFO landing sequence and interact with the crowd as part of the performance.

The nighttime parade will feature illuminated lanterns, glowing creatures, giant puppets, music, and interactive elements designed to transform the square into a science-fiction-inspired spectacle.

The festival continues on Saturday, June 13, with the daytime Uplifting Puppet Parade during Art on the Square.

The parade begins at 2 p.m. and will give visitors an opportunity to see the giant puppets in daylight as they travel around the downtown square.

Community members are encouraged to participate by bringing costumes, puppets, masks, noise makers, or other imaginative creations.

In addition to the parades themselves, the festival includes numerous community workshops and artmaking opportunities.

Throughout the festival, residents of all ages have been invited to create puppets, lanterns, and other artistic projects at Studio Osky, the FACE Oskaloosa Art Center, and various community locations.

The festival also partners with the George Daily Youth Theatre for a special summer workshop experience.

Participants are encouraged to join the Friday night lantern parade, although participation remains optional.

The festival’s emphasis on community involvement reflects Bollman’s larger vision for the Uplifting Puppet Company.

Founded as a nonprofit organization, the company focuses on bringing people together through puppetry arts and collaborative creativity.

That mission has helped elevate Bollman’s work beyond Oskaloosa.

In recent years, he has performed and created puppets throughout the Midwest, worked with internationally known puppeteer Andrew Kim, and was recently appointed to the board of Puppeteers of America.

His work has also become familiar to local audiences through performances at William Penn University, the George Daily Auditorium, community celebrations, holiday events, and public art projects.

Bollman currently serves as Director of Theatre at William Penn University while also teaching youth programs at the George Daily Youth Theatre and Oskaloosa schools.

Despite a schedule that includes directing, teaching, filmmaking, and puppet construction, he says his focus remains on creating meaningful artistic experiences.

“Covid made me reassess my priorities,” Bollman said. “I need to focus more on my artwork. This time of my life is, I’m going to make as much cool stuff as possible.”

Festival activities are supported in part by the Mahaska County Community Foundation, Arts Midwest, and numerous local partner organizations.

For residents looking for something unique, imaginative, and distinctly Oskaloosa, the arrival of giant aliens, glowing lanterns, and towering puppets may be one of the most memorable events of the summer.