All 57 participants crowned winners in Estonia's puppet theatre competition in Narva

A family puppet-making competition called "Tales of Estonia" concluded with an unusual outcome, the jury decided to name every single participant a winner. The event brought together 57 children from across Estonia alongside their parents, grandparents and teachers, with the finished puppets now on display at the Rugodiv cultural centre in Narva.

A family puppet theatre competition held in Narva ended with a heartwarming twist: every one of the 57 participating children was declared a winner. The "Tales of Estonia" contest, organised by the Zlata Ühing association, drew young creators and their families from multiple Estonian cities, and the jury ultimately decided that all entries deserved recognition, each participant received a diploma and a gift.

The finished puppets are currently on display in the large showcases lining the staircase of the Rugodiv cultural centre in Narva. Each piece tells its own story. For a diorama inspired by the "Tale of the Estonian Skirt", one grandfather hand-carved wooden characters for his granddaughter Alisa Kiritsuk, who then painted them herself. Another grandmother, Yana Narvskaya, turned the project into a three-generation effort, bringing together her grandson, granddaughter and their mother to create an entire puppet cast based on a fairy tale by Kohtla-Järve artist Eduard Kont.

Puppets from across Ida-Virumaa

The Sillamäe Museum sent characters from the Estonian fairy tale "The Forbidden Knot", crafted under the guidance of Irina Zamarina and the museum's educators. Young pupils from the Sunday school of Narva's Resurrection Cathedral fashioned charming string marionettes from paper, while a set of large classical marionettes made the journey from Tallinn.

Three craft circles from the Kohtla-Järve House of Creativity joined forces on an especially ambitious project: they invented their own original fairy tale, made the puppets, built a stage screen and designed the scenery, then filmed a short movie based on their story. The film was screened at the awards ceremony at Rugodiv to a round of applause from the audience.

Puppets too precious to give away

Ekaterina Averko, head of the art studio at the Narva Children's Creativity Centre, admitted she had not anticipated how deeply the competition would engage her students. «We could have submitted even more works, but some of the children decided at the last moment to keep their puppets for themselves,» she said. «It turned out that even a simple rod puppet made from fabric scraps and a ball of wool becomes incredibly precious to the person who made it.»

Many participants followed the organisers' recommendation to use recycled and repurposed materials. Competition organiser and Zlata Ühing director Marina Tee said the children's imagination and their ability to find something extraordinary in ordinary, already-used objects pleasantly surprised the jury.

The awards ceremony was followed by a bonus treat, a "Science Magic" show in which pre-schoolers and primary school pupils watched unusual experiments and took part in interactive activities with great enthusiasm.