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Free Events

The Folger offers a wide range of free events for audiences of all ages, including our monthly book club discussions and our annual celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday.
Folger Salon with Gbenga Adesina, John Colley, and Tamara Walker

Folger Salon with Gbenga Adesina, John Colley, and Tamara Walker

Learn about research happening at the Folger in real time! Each month, Folger Institute scholar and artist fellows will share their most exciting finds and thought-provoking challenges, followed by casual open conversation.
Thu, Sep 18, 2025 at 4:30pm
Great Hall
Using 20-Minute Plays the Whole Year Long

Using 20-Minute Plays the Whole Year Long

Teachers, join Folger Education for a free, one-hour, virtual professional development session on launching students into complex texts using 20-Minute Plays.
Wed, Sep 24, 2025, 8pm ET
Virtual - Zoom
Out of the Vault: Into the Heart of the Folger
exhibition gallery with colorful curtains separating glass cases with books

Out of the Vault

Encounter remarkable books and manuscripts that connect with the multifaceted work of the Folger in this ongoing exhibition.
Ongoing
Rose Exhibition Hall
Folger Book Club: 'A Haunting on the Hill' by Elizabeth Hand

Folger Book Club: 'A Haunting on the Hill' by Elizabeth Hand

Our October 2025 selection takes a trip to Shirley Jackson’s infamous Hill House, where four theater-makers are attempting to adapt a Jacobean witchcraft play under unique conditions…
Thu, Oct 9, 2025, 6:30pm
Folger Virtual
Folger Salon with Ruth C. Pión, Evelyn Reidy, and Andrew Aaron Valdez

Folger Salon with Ruth C. Pión, Evelyn Reidy, and Andrew Aaron Valdez

Learn about research happening at the Folger in real time! Each month, Folger Institute scholar and artist fellows will share their most exciting finds and thought-provoking challenges, followed by casual open conversation.
Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 4:30pm
Great Hall
Folger Book Club: 'You Dreamed of Empires' by Álvaro Enrigue

Folger Book Club: 'You Dreamed of Empires' by Álvaro Enrigue

The book club explores the 1519 meeting between Cortés and Moctezuma, presenting a hallucinatory, revelatory colonial revenge story.
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 6:30pm
Shakespeare Exhibition
An exhibition gallery with a touchscreen and two open books in cases in the foreground, a large case filled with closed books in the background, and beyond that a brightly lit gallery

Our Shakespeare Exhibition

See the Folger First Folios, learn more about Shakespeare and his plays, and explore the complexities of his cultural legacy.
Ongoing
Shakespeare Exhibition Hall
Folger Book Club: 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett

Folger Book Club: 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett

Our December selection travels to an icy land of faeries and dark magic, with author Heather Fawcett joining for the session.
Thu, Dec 4, 2025, 6:30pm
Virtual - on Zoom