More than 70 years after its founding, the Stratford Festival is still going strong, with 12 plays performed over seven months, a major destination for serious theater goers and casual enthusiasts alike. All this, and Justin Bieber, too.
STRATFORD, Ontario – Stratford was a gritty railroad town in its early years, before journalist Tom Patterson came up with another idea.
Stratford, population about 32,000, is named after Stratford-upon-Avon in England, the birthplace of William Shakespeare in 1564. The river that runs through town, originally the Little Thames, was renamed the Avon . He and others had floated the possibility of a Shakespeare festival before. This time, however, the timing was right.
Fast forward more than 70 years, and the festival now features four theaters, with seating for up to 1,800, and a dozen or more productions from April through October. More than 100 actors perform in repertory, and as many as 500,000 visitors come to witness it all every year.The festival has spawned its own hospitality industry – with dozens of inns and bed and breakfasts spread across town, plus restaurants, shops and galleries to provide entertainment between shows.
The festival built a permanent performance venue in 1957, inside the new Festival Theatre, a mid-century beauty with a fluted roof, designed to connote those early tent years.
@Yyy Stratford-Festival Ontario William-Shakespeare Theater
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