Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival 2025 in London

The Annual Puppet Festival draws puppeteers from all over England to entertain families through amusing puppet shows. The date and location of the festival are rather symbolic. The setting is St. Paul's Church which was built back in the 17th century and was the first church after the Reformation in England. Owing to numerous theatres in the area and pupp​et shows held around, it was soon unofficially renamed into the Actor's Church, and so it is referred to today. The date of the festival is usually the 9th of May, the birthday of famous puppet couple Punch and Judy – according to the diary of Samuel Pepys, British naval administrator and a Member of Parliament, it was exactly on the 9th of May in 1662 when​ he first saw the amusing puppet comedy in London.