A FESTIVAL celebrating the life of William Shakespeare will include theatre, cinema, art and a special dinner.

The first Richmond Shakespeare Fest will run from Monday, April 18 to Sunday, April 24 at venues across the town and is aimed at all age groups.

Co-ordinators Gary and Julie Winn set up the festival because they felt the Bard should be remembered on the 400th anniversary of his death – and celebrated annually in the way Scottish poet Robert Burns is among his countrymen and women.

Mr Winn said: “To begin with I thought the festival should be performance based but then I realised the opportunity to do other things too.

“There will be 30 exhibits all about Shakespeare at The Station, including posters by students from Teesside University as part of a competition for the best design.

“We have been supported by Richmond Town Council, Richmondshire District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, which have all given us a bit of money to hold our events.”

The festival opens with a Shakespeare and Beer event at the Georgian Theatre Royal on Monday, April 18, which will look at his texts and work written about him.

On Wednesday, April 20 at 7.30pm, Something Rotten will be performed at the theatre by writer and actor Robert Cohen who will take a comedic look at Hamlet and what else might have happened.

The Georgian Theatre Royal will continue to host on Thursday, April 21, when Opera Nova will perform music inspired by the Bard.

A Shakespeare dinner will be held at the Kings Head Hotel on Friday, April 22, which will include a performance by The Castle Players who will give a rendition of the mechanicals scene in Midsummer Night’s Dream, which they are performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Newcastle.

The festival will take over the town on Saturday, April 23, with music, drama and talks taking place around the town, and that evening Richmond School Drama Club will join forces with Georgian Youth Theatre and Richmond Church of England Primary School will perform This is Shakespeare.

Mr Winn added: “The festival will wind down on Sunday, April 24 with a concert by the Station Singers at the Kings Head, followed by a Shakespeare quiz at the pub that evening.

“The Station Cinema will be showing Shakespeare-themed films all week and we hope all our events will appeal to a wide range of people.”

For further details visit richmond.org.