Over three days this April, the Fylde Coast will go all Shakespearean for the town’s first ever Shakespeare Festival!

The Fylde Coast Shakespeare Festival takes place from Wednesday 23 – Saturday 26 April, across 22 venues, celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Bard’s birth.

Employees, institutions, school children and community groups will be taking part – performing everything from full-length plays to acts and scenes, with poetry readings, discussions and even a Shakespearean Feast to boot!

As always The Grand is eager to get involved in all things artistic taking place locally, and we think this is a great way to promote one of this country’s greatest writers. In the Studio on Wednesday 23 April we will be hosting two of the Shakespeare Festival events – both of which are FREE to attend! However, this is not a ticketed event and spaces will fill up on a first come first served basis.

From 2-4pm the Grand Theatre’s very own Play Reading Group will be participating in a reading and discussion of Shakespeare’s sonnets, followed by a performance of the Bard’s poignant, funny and controversial play, The Merchant of Venice, by Blackpool Council’s Get Started team of small business entrepreneurs, from 6:30-8pm.

After the sonnet reading there will also be a small display of historic programmes featuring Shakespeare productions – which is a must-see for all those theatre and heritage buffs!

For more information on the programme of events and the first ever Fylde coast Shakespeare Festival, check out their blog.