Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival

Where:	London, at Covent Garden St Paul's Church & Garden
When:	2nd Sunday in May
Time:	Procession 11am returning for Church service noon, performances 12.30 onwards

In 1662 on 9th May Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary a reference to a performance held at Covent Garden, which has gone down in history as the first ever written record of a Punch and Judy Show. The festival has been held every May for 40 years to mark Mr Punch’s birthday and begins with a procession led by a brass band. After a toast to the birthday boy himself, a special service takes place in St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden during which Mr Punch usually makes an appearance in the pulpit. During the afternoon the Professors (for such is the title given to practitioners of this branch of the puppeteers’ art) take turns to perform in their colourful booths around the church garden. Expect slapstick, mayhem and boisterous humour!