Colombian puppet theatre created in 1973 in Medellín. Under the direction of Jorge Luis Pérez Valencia and Ana María Ochoa, La Fanfarra (Fanfare) includes actors and musicians, and for more than thirty years has produced original shows for the puppet theatre. Some of their works of notable mention are: El reino de las sombras (The Reign of Shadows), El Chímpete Chámpete El Champetu Chimpetu (1973), Los buenos vecinos (The Good Neighbours, 1974), a free adaptation of the story by Argentine puppeteer and writer, Otto Alfredo Freitas, El circo de los seis amigos (The Circus of Six Friends, 1975), Constelaciones (Constellations, 1980), El Gran comilón Don Pantagruel (The Great Glutton Pantagruel, 1981).

Apart from these works, the troupe has created or adapted many pieces for the television, including El vecindario de Don Arsenio (Don Arsenio’s Neighbours) and El negrito Aquel (The Adventures of Little Negro Aquel), a poetic fantasy using techniques of Japanese Bunraku. Creators of the majority of works in their repertoire, the artists employ almost all puppetry techniques, from glove puppets to direct manipulation (genre bunraku).

La Fanfarria has made many tours around Colombia and abroad, including: “Las jornadas Culturales de Colombia en el exterior” (Colombian Cultural Days in Central America, 1984), Uppsala (1983) and Charleville-Mézières (1982) festivals, Festival de Guanajuato, Mexico (1983), Semana Internacional del Títere (International Puppetry Week), Mexico (1979), Festival de Guanajuato, Mexico (1983).

(See Colombia.)