STRATFORD staged the 462nd birthday celebrations of its most famous son at the weekend.
The Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations transformed the town into a centre of pomp and pageatry once again for a packed-programme of events.
Crowds lined the streets for the annual birthday parade on Saturday morning (April 25) featuring dignitaries from around the world and closer to home, school children, ‘Mr Shakespeare’ and a plethora of local organisations.
The VIP procession paraded to Bridge Street for the unfurling of the flags before proceeding to Holy Trinity Church in Old Town via High Street, Chapel Street and Church Street, where flowers were placed on Shakespeare’s grave.
The official Shakespeare Birthday Luncheon was then held in the Theatre Gardens from 12 noon.
Events from History performed scenes from Romeo and Juliet outside Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street, guided tours were run around Hall’s Croft, the home of Shakespeare’s eldest daughter, Susanna, enabling visitors to see the important work taking place to care for this historic building and take a close-up look at conservation in action.
Meanwhile in New Place Gardens there were hands-on activities inspired by Tudor life including traditional games, making a birthday card for Shakespeare, writing with a quill and object handling.
On Sunday (April 26) the celebrations continued with the arrival of Mr Shakespeare at the Town Hall to ceremoniously offer the Quill to the King Edward VI Captain of School.
A procession then accompanied the Quill to Holy Trinity Church where The Shakespeare Service took place.
