Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

Stratford celebrates Shakespeare's birthday in style

27 March 2008

Stratford-upon-Avon will be celebrating William Shakespeare's birthday in style next month.

This year the town is holding its annual celebrations from Wednesday 23 April to Sunday 27 April.

On the first two days of the celebrations visitors will be treated to a guide of Shakespeare's home town on the Stratford Town Walk or, for those who are feeling brave, the Stratford Town Ghost Walk.

However, it is the day of the bard's birthday, Friday 25 April, when the celebrations will really get into gear, with a birthday lecture given by a major figure in the theatre and arts industry.

This treat is followed on Saturday with an English folk dance in the town centre and then a procession through Stratford, complete with a live band.

Morris dancers, street performers and circus acts will also take to the streets of Stratford to celebrate the life of the Jacobean playwright, who penned great tragedies such as King Lear and Othello.

For those who cannot make it to Stratford, the Globe theatre in London – where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed – will be holding some ‘great events’ on Saturday 19 April and Sunday 20 April.
 

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