Puppets can make thoughts real. The arts at present seem to be largely divided into Low Arts like the movies and TV which are expensive to make, technical, and centralized, and High Arts which are produced and exhibited in a way which is quite detached from the community. Outdoor performances like the puppet processions, on the other hand, are responsive to the community in a very particular way which has to do with the experience of performing out of doors. Street performance is amazingly intense, not so much for the audience as for the performer. It can be very difficult.
People find it easy to walk away, and being walked away from on the street is incredibly painful.
There is no distance, no stage, no lights, to protect the person who finds themselves giving their all to turned backs. It's rejection in its purest form. On the other hand, when the audience approves, there is also no distance to take the edge off the applause of what appears to be the entire immediate world. This is why I despise trucks, motorized floats, and taped music in parades. They remove the advantages of street performances by creating a barrier between the performer and audience.