Rain or Shine! All activities will move indoors if it rains.
Free; charge for some food and drink
Enjoy jugglers and jesters, music, song and dance, stage combat workshops, and more. It’s the one day of the year when the Folger reading rooms are open to all—plus, birthday cake for everyone!
Other Birthday festivities include:
A cake-cutting ceremony in honor of Shakespeare presided over by Queen Elizabeth I at 3:30pm on the front lawn of the Folger.
Renaissance music, song, and dance throughout the Folger.
Shakespeare Portrait Contest for children with winners announced at the day's end.
Free children's activities and Elizabethan crafts, including:
Shakespearean fortune-telling;
quill pen writing;
brooch-making;
build-a-shield;
potpourri-making; and
garland-making.
Stories of life in 16th-century England.
Onstage at the Folger, Shakespeare lovers performing their own bit in "Spontaneous Shakespeare" hosted by our very own Mistress of the Revels, Cam Magee.
Conversations and Q & As with Folger Director on leading the Folger.
Hear the winners of this year's student Sonnet Contest.
Don't miss the Folger's Shakespeare Festival performances from local elementary and secondary schools.
Tours of the reading rooms—this is the one day of the year the Reading Rooms are open to the public. View Flemish tapestries from the 16th Century, paintings from scenes of the Bard’s plays, and the famed "Seven Ages of Man" stained glass window.
Explore the Elizabethan Garden filled with plants popular in Shakespeare’s time and mentioned in his plays and Shakespeare-inspired statues by American artist Greg Wyatt. Docent-led tours plus a plant sale!
Scavenger Hunt available for the current exhibition in the Great Hall.
