Visit www.shakespeare.org.uk or www.rsc.org.uk/birthday or www.stratforduponavon.org or www.shakespearesbirthday.org.uk

Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration is a tremendous spectacle. This takes place on the weekend that is on or after the 23rd April. The festival includes a myriad of exciting and vibrant spectacles for adults and children alike, with a hive of activity taking place. The crowds are entertained by street theatre, the Shakespeare Morris Men, Children’s Country Dancing, the Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Coventry Corps of Drums.

From Friday 22nd to 25th April 2010, Stratford-upon-Avon will host a four-day period to commemorate the 446th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.  This tradition has been taking place for over two centuries and brings together the local community, professional and amateur performers, artists and ambassadors from all over the world.  The highlight of the weekend is undoubtedly the Procession and the unfurling of the flags and laying of floral tributes at Holy Trinity Church on the Saturday morning and in the afternoon, the streets come alive with entertainers, children's parties and public workshops with lots of opportunities for people to join in.

Budding actors are invited to take up the "Romeo and Juliet" challenge, families can exercise their detective skills on "Sonnet Sleuth" and those romantic souls can seek out the "Wishing Tree" on the Bancroft Gardens or on the ferry, where RSC actors will be reading the sonnets

In addition, this year the celebrations will have a distinctly international flavour with a special visit on Friday 23rd by a Pakistani delegation to honour the "Poet of the East", Dr Muhammad Iqbal and his connection to Shakespeare.  Famous folk artistes from Pakistan will be performing traditional music and dance at the unveiling of a plaque at Shakespeare's Birthplace, eventually spilling out into Henley Street for everyone to enjoy.

for full details of the activities taking place over the four day period visit www.shakespearesbirthday.org.uk

A packed programme of events is planned with the Shakespeare houses each providing their own forms of tribute:

Shakespeare's Birthplace - share some birthday cake at Shakespeare's childhood home.

Nash's House & New Place - Enjoy a party atmosphere at the site of his final home.

Hall's Croft - Design and draw your birthday card to Shakespeare and hang them around the house.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage - Sign a giant birthday card.

Mary Arden's Farm - Take part in some Tudor party games. Normal house admission applies.

 

History of the Birthday Celebrations
Tradition has it that William Shakespeare was born on 23rd April, three days prior to his baptism recorded at Holy Trinity Church in 1564. The 23rd April is also the date of his death in Stratford aged 52. Shakespeare’s birthday was first celebrated in 1824 with a procession through the streets to Holy Trinity Church, a dinner and a few speeches. Over the years the tradition has grown to include many of the unique features that are still integral to the celebrations today. In 1896 the American Ambassador was invited to Stratford-upon-Avon and so began the tradition that linked the celebrations with the Court of St James. To this day, the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations remain one of the few engagements for the Diplomatic corps outside London.

---

Schedule

No upcoming dates for this event

Date

Time

Contact information and location