Our 2024 Summer Production:
Earth & Sky
A Great Gathering For All Beings

The creatures of the world are on the move!
They gather now to speak and find a way forward together.
You are invited to join the solutionary movement towards
collective liberation and survival.
In the spirit of mutual respect, reciprocity and healing, we gather to inspire each other into the future we build.
They, and we, welcome your presence, your attention, and your curiosity.
Paperhand’s 24th annual giant summer spectacle feature giant puppets, masks, stilts, illuminated beings and shadow puppets. Don’t miss this great gathering for the ages.
There is no being, only being with.

Purchase Chapel Hill Tickets

IF YOU HAD TICKETS TO A SHOW THAT WAS RAINED OUT, YOU WILL RECEIVE A VOUCHER
THROUGH TICKET TAILOR TO GO TO A NEW DATE!

An American Sign Language Interpreter will provide interpretation on Saturday 9/14 and on Sunday 9/15 for the matinee!

Parking in Chapel Hill is going to be tight on 9/7, 9/14 and 9/21 due to UNC Football games, consider attending on a Friday or Sunday if you are able to! If that doesn’t work for you, please consider carpooling, ubering, biking, or taking the bus!

$25 for Adults, $15 for children ages 4-14, students and seniors; children 3 and under get in for free! Tickets are for the Forest Theatre shows in Chapel Hill, NC through September 29th. Please note that we have made multiple changes to the ticketing process! Please take the time to read our FAQ page to understand the changes.
Thank you!

  • "Just know you are greatly loved and appreciated. I love the degree of audience participation right up to getting to get up on the stage and be right under that magnificent lit up lichen Goddess. I envy your sculpting skill and am determined to learn how to make lantern puppets. Overall, I guess I just have to say that it's the magic your beautiful team creates.”

  • “Went last night and it was awesome, perfect setting with real cicadas singing along and lightning bugs dancing around the audience. Great work again, guys. You are a local treasure, I'll never take it for granted.”

  • “Last night was our first time seeing you at the Forest Theatre as we always go to the art museum shows. What a great experience to be at the opening show with all that energy flowing from the stage. Keep up the fantastic work.”

  • “This year was just amazing, as much as the visual is the musical performance. All of it is fantastic. You will be happy you participated.”

  • "This was the best I have seen in all respects - music, costumes, choreography, narration, music, shadow show."

  • "Loved The Council of All Beings represented in this year’s production. Thank you Paperhand for fostering our interdependence and interconnectedness!"

Photos by Todd McPhail Photography

Paperhand creates magic and inspires wonder.

For 25 years, Paperhand has worked to inspire and nurture a deeper connection with the Earth and its creatures for thousands of people of all walks of life.

We strive to make art that heals.

Each year we write, create, build and perform a large summer production-play-extravaganza. These performances last about an hour and a half, include an ensemble of professional musicians who create an original score of music and involve a cast of puppeteers, which has included as many as twenty-eight performers.

The show is a giant puppet spectacle production for all ages featuring masks, stilts, painted flats, cardboard trickery, illuminated puppets and shadows. All of this art moves! Our work comes to life with a fantastic score played LIVE by the Paperhand Band!

Our Summer show is attended by over 25,000 every year!

Majority of our shows sell out ahead of time, so we recommend buying tickets online.
Our shows are held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7pm, with a pre-show starting at 6:20pm. We also have a Labor Day Monday show. And finally, we hold 2 matinee shows during the season that start at 3pm, with pre-show opener starting at 2:20pm!

Coming to the show? Post about it on social media and make sure to tag us!

We’re coming to Asheville!

We are very excited to announce that our new show will be going on the road to Asheville, NC this fall! Join us for TWO shows at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts on November 9th at 7:30pm and November 10th at 2pm!

Openers for Our Shows

A artistic opener performs before we take the stage for every show during our summer run. For evening shows, openers start at 6:20pm and for our matinee shows, openers start at 2:20pm. Please come early to listen, discover local music and support our community!

August 9th - Big Celtic Fun (SHOW CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE DEBBY)
August 10th - Onyx Club Boys
August 11 - Jonathan Henderson and Kym Register
August 16 - Pippa Hoover
August 17 - Bulltown Strutters
August 18 - Ephemeral Stream
August 23 - Jef The Mime
August 24 - Anna La Mare
August 25 - Wes Collins
August 30 - Bear Roots (Show cancelled due to rain)
August 31 - Sunsp.t
September 1 - Joseph Terrell (Show cancelled due to rain)
September 2 - Brian and Bryan
September 6 - Dean and Riley Driver
September 7 - Tea Cup Gin
September 8 - Emma Jane
September 13 - Red Nucleus
September 14 - Chris Titchner
September 15 (Matinee) - Mysti Mayhem
September 15 (Evening) - Alli Blois
September 20 - Eric Bannan
September 21 - Shannon O’Connor
September 22 (Matinee) - The Pinkerton Raid
September 22 (Evening) - Kristine Moon and Tray Batson
September 27 - Jennifer Curtis, Violin
September 28 - The Clay Tones
September 29 (Both Matinee & Evening) -
Sun V. Set

Thank You To Our Partners & Sponsors!