World Puppetry Day is March 21.The idea came from the puppet theater artist Javad Zolfaghari from Iran. In 2000 at the XVIII Congress of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, (UNIMA) in Magdeburg, he made the proposal for discussion. Two years later, at a meeting of the International Council of UNIMA in June 2002 in Atlanta, the date of the celebration was identified. The first celebration was in 2003.^[

Each year the day comes with a theme. In 2022, the theme was "The Sea" encouraging puppeteers to celebrate the day using some form of that theme.

World Puppetry Day is celebrated by puppet festivals,^[4] donating to puppet organizations, making puppets, or watching a puppet show. Some communities will put on puppet shows in honor of the day reminding people of this versatile and dying art form.

Puppets have been around for almost 4000 years in almost every civilization. Today puppets come in all shapes and sizes and are used to tell different stories.

Every year on 21 March, puppeteers, companies, schools, and audiences across the world come together to mark the World Puppetry Day — a tradition launched by UNIMA in 2003 that has grown into one of the most important dates in the international puppetry calendar. This year marks a new chapter: for the first time, UNIMA International has organised two major events to bring the global puppetry community together in real time.

As we mark World Puppetry Day, we hold in our hearts those who cannot join us. In Gaza, a small group of puppeteers continues to create art among the ruins, keeping alive the hope and memory of their people. Today, these artists and their families urgently need our support to survive. Solidarity is at the core of what UNIMA stands for.