Bread & Puppet Museum


Formed in New York City by German artist Peter Shumann in 1963, the renowned Bread & Puppet theater collective presents carnivalesque pageants, circuses, and battles of Good and Evil with gaudy masks and gigantic puppets. This unique museum consists of a two-story barn crammed with puppets and masks from the company's past performances. The high-ceilinged top floor is especially arresting, with its collection of many-headed demons, menacing generals, priests, bankers, everyday people, animals and gods (some as large as 15ft).

In July and August, performances take place at the theater's home base in Vermont. The rest of the year, Bread & Puppet is on tour. In summer, audience members are still treated to the traditional home-baked bread that gives the enterprise half its name.

The street theater of Bread & Puppet's early performances gave voice to local rent strikes and anti–Vietnam War protests as well as an epic parade down Fifth Ave in the early 1980s to protest nuclear proliferation. By then, it had moved its operation to its current home in Glover.

To get here, take I-91 to exit 24, then head west on VT 122 for 13 miles.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Hill Farmstead Brewery

6.82 MILES

The brainchild of Shaun Hill, known for his uncompromising adherence to creativity and quality, this unassuming-looking brewery down a remote dirt road –…

2. Lake Willoughby

7.25 MILES

This stunning fjord-like lake, 30 miles north of St Johnsbury, sits sandwiched between Mt Hor and Mt Pisgah, whose cliffs plummet more than 1000ft to the…

3. Old Stone House Museum

10.44 MILES

This well-preserved but little-visited museum is just one of many lovely 19th-century buildings reposing under the shade of ancient maple trees in the…

4. Dog Mountain

19.78 MILES

Signposted 2 miles east of St Johnsbury, this captivating spot celebrates the legacy of Vermont artist Stephen Huneck. There's an entire gallery devoted…

5. Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

19.86 MILES

In 1891, when Franklin Fairbanks' collection of stuffed animals and cultural artifacts from across the globe grew too large for his home, he built the…

6. St Johnsbury Athenaeum

19.93 MILES

Home to one of America's oldest art galleries, this elegant public edifice was initially founded as a library by Horace Fairbanks in 1871. Comprising 9000…

7. Helen Day Art Center

29.28 MILES

In the heart of Stowe village, this gently provocative community art center has rotating exhibitions of traditional and avant-garde work. It also sponsors…

8. Stowe Craft

29.35 MILES

Stowe has no shortage of galleries and fine craft shops with artists of local and international renown; this one offers some of the most adventurous,…