Happy Birthday William Shakespeare!

Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations Marking the 445th anniversary of the Bard's birth Welcome to The Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations, a unique event that's been taking place in Stratford for over a century. This year everyone can look forward to a truly dazzling experience as 2009 sees the start of a three-year plan to develop the celebrations into a high profile, annual extravaganza ready for the World Shakespeare Festival in 2012. (link via shakespeare.org.uk) The Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations Stratford's streets will overflow with pageantry, music and theatre and over the birthday period you can enjoy a packed programme of special celebratory activities - great days out at Shakespeare's historic houses, poetry, literary and music festivals and amazing theatre. Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday with a free event on Bankside, London Shakespeare's Birthday 2009 On Thursday 23 April, patriotically established as Shakespeare's birthday, there will be another free special event on Bankside before the Globe’s 2009 theatre season opens with Shakespeare’s most famous love-story, Romeo & Juliet.Time: 6.00pmTickets for Romeo & Juliet: £5-£33. (link via Shakespeare's Globe Theatre) Portrait of Shakespeare unveiled A portrait of William Shakespeare thought to be the only picture made of him during his lifetime has been unveiled in Warwickshire. The painting is on show at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, to celebrate the playwright's birthday on 23 April. (link via BBC News) The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust