Wroclaw, Poland

BRAVE FESTIVAL: Song of the Goat Theatre of Poland's artistic director, Grzegorz Bral, is not a fan of theatre festivals, particularly "the ever-present, dominating formula" he believes they nearly inevitably employ. Festivals tend to "reduce authors' work to a product only, to a commodity for consumption," he writes. So why, exactly, did Bral and his theatre found the Brave Festival in Wroclaw? The story, which appears on Brave's website, recounts how Bral traveled to Mexico, hoping to visit the Tarahumara native tribe that inspired Antonin Artaud to create the Theatre of Cruelty. When he got there, Bral discovered that modern construction and drug dealers had driven the Tarahumara people from the area. Their culture was in danger of disappearing. It was at that moment that Bral decided to create "the festival of the brave, of the people who say where they are from, what their values are, traditions and spirituality. This is not a festival about works of art but about the art which can save and protect thousands of forgotten, abandoned, lonely cultures and people." Past years of the event have focused on such themes as "Drowned Songs," "Rituals: Out of Africa" and "Enchanters," and its ticket sales benefit Rokpa International, a charity that focuses its efforts on the very poorest people in the most remote corners of the globe.

Seven editions later, Brave Fest is concentrating on theatre, music and dance traditions that involve masks, literally or metaphorically. Members of the Bwa tribe of Burkina Faso will dance with sumbo poa, or Masks of the Moon, which foster harmony by paying homage to night as well as day. A Balinese master of the art of Topeng Pajegan, I Made Djimat, will perform every role in a complex story using expressive masks. Also on hand will be performers from the indigenous Sahariya tribe of Rajasthan, India, which bases its song and dance tradition on Hindu deities and folk tales.

Contemporary theatre is also on the menu, though it draws deeply on traditional cultural heritage: From Korea, a company named Be-Being, founded by seven musicians in 2007, merges traditional and contemporary arts, including music, dance, video and theatre. And in Homework, actor Marcin Jarnuszkiewicz communes on stage with a life-size doll, reflecting on the loneliness of art-making. Host company Song of the Goat will perform its version of Macbeth, created in collaboration with London's Royal Shakespeare Company and featuring a song-score based on ancient Corsican polyphony and the music of Rafal Habel. (July 2—8; (48) 71-341-88-78; www.bravefestival.pl)

Manchester, England

DECIBEL: Asylums, political and mental, are among the topics broached by the 50-or-so performances on display at Arts Council England's Decibel showcase, where ripe-to-tour British productions will angle for future bookings in front of a bevy of presenters. Community Arts North West, which gives voice to the diverse populations of Greater Manchester, will perform an excerpt of the refugee story Another Country, directed by Cheryl Martin and devised by a team of eight multi-disciplinary artists. Meanwhile, The Knitting Circle, written by Julie McNamara and produced by Vital XPosure, reunites the playwright with director Paulette Randall, who directed McNamara's gang story Crossings at Decibel two years ago. An unflinching and intimate look into the history of mental health institutions in the U.K., the production was created with the help of those who lived or worked inside the system, and already has had a sold-out work-in-progress outing in February at London's Soho Theatre.

Other highlights: Surrey-based company Pursued By a Bear zeros in on the upcoming London Olympics by telling a multi-decade story of sports and patriotism, Kabaddi-Kabaddi-Kabaddi. And Urashima Taro, by Rouge28 Theatre, stars Aya Nakamura and a life-size bunraku puppet of her own making—not unlike the actor/puppet duet on stage in Wroclaw this month (see above). Rouge28's folktale-inspired show is already booked in September at the World Puppet Festival in Charleville-Mézières, France, and the Skipton International Puppet Festival in Yorkshire. (Sept. 13–16; (44) 845-300-6200; www.decibelpas.com)

Almaty, Kazakhstan

WORLD PUPPET CARNIVAL: Twenty years ago, Kazakhstan became an independent nation. The president of the first World Puppet Carnival in Kazakhstan, Madeniyet Yussopov, believes there's no more fitting way to mark such an anniversary than with the convening of artists who, as he says, "are the most effective diplomats of the country, as art appeals directly to the hearts and souls of people." Of course, Kazakhstan's tradition of puppetry dates back far further than 1991. Almaty State Puppet Theater, of which Yussupov is the director, was founded in 1935 and performs in both Kazakh and Russian. The country's puppet traditions can be traced back further still, to a simple toy: a charmingly carved wooden goat, or orteke, dancing on the end of a string to the rhythm of the dombra, a sort of long-necked lute. A national festival of Kazakh puppet arts, named for this puppet-goat mascot, met in Almaty last year with such success that Almaty State Puppet Theater has decided to go international. The festival's artistic director is Rod Petrovic, whom Yussupov met at the World Festival of Puppet Art in Prague. Conducted as a competition, the event will crown not only the best performer and puppet designers but will also recognize films and animation. (Sept. 25–Oct. 2; (7) 77-678-40-78; www.eng.puppet.kz)