Celebrate the life and times of the Bard at Celebrating Shakespeare festival in Shoreham

The past two years have each seen four days of diverse events but this time around Wordfest has put together a packed and varied day for everyone to sing, dance, listen and celebrate the great man and his times.

The day will start with Songs, Sonnets, Soliloquies at St Mary de Haura Church at 10.30am, where actors, singers and musicians will bring the sounds of Shakespeare and Elizabethan England to life.

This opening event is free to all, with refreshments available.

In the afternoon the action will move to the Shoreham Centre, starting with a talk, in the Q.E. II room from 2pm to 3pm, by well-known local historian Chris Hare on Sussex Life in Shakespeare’s time.

Chris will talk about the loves, lives, trials, triumphs and disasters of Sussex people while Shakespeare was creating is world renowned plays.

Emily Longhurst will then present Lovely Songs and Lively Sounds from Shakespeare and the Elizabethans from 3.15pm to 4.30pm.

This workshop will provide a great opportunity to learn and sing some of the joyous songs of Shakespeare’s time.

Sounds and Sweet Airs will provide the musical accompaniment, so be sure bring your children, family and friends for a rollicking good time.

Tickets for Chris’s talk and Emily’s workshop are £5 each, or £8 for both events.

For the grand finale there will be a Shakespeare Night Ceilidh in the main hall at the Shoreham Centre from 3.30pm to 11pm.

This festive, frolicsome Elizabethan ceilidh will celebrate the Bard in word, music and dance.

There will be a rustic Elizabethan ploughman’s meal, actors, musicians, plus the wonderful Kate’s Kitchen Band and caller.

Tickets for the evening’s entertainment are £14.

Tickets for all the events are available online – www.ticketsource.co.uk/shorehamwordfest – or from 07969 572317.

They are also on sale at Shoreham Art Gallery, in Brunswick Road, Shoreham, as well as at Shoreham Farmers’ Market, in East Street, on Saturday, April 14.

Later in the year, on June 16 and 17, Shoreham Wordfest will also be presenting Shakespeare on the Green, an outdoor performance of Comedy of Errors by the Brighton Shakespeare Company on Coronation Green, Shoreham.

For more information about Celebrating Shakespeare and other Shoreham Wordfest events, visit www.shorehamwordfest.com or the Shoreham Wordfest Facebook page.