Fresh chapter for Shakespeare Lunch

THE future of the Shakespeare Birthday Lunch has been secured but will take place in a new location next year.

Doubts were raised about the hosting of the traditional lunch, which celebrates the Bard’s birthday each April, when the previous organising committee announced it was stepping down after this year’s event which marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

However, local resident and Stratford Town Trust chairman, Alan Haigh, announced this week that he intends to stage the lunch on 22nd April 2017 in the large banqueting hall of the Holiday Inn Hotel, Stratford; a venue which can cater for up to 450 people. It’s also envisaged that tickets for the event will be cheaper than on previous occasions.

“I wanted to reassure people that the 2017 luncheon would go ahead and I hope to make the event more open to the people of Stratford and aimed specifically at Shakespeare. The previous committee did a great job and organised some tremendous lunches but as we don’t have any big Shakespeare anniversaries coming up, now is the time to celebrate the ordinary birthdays with the Stratford people,” Alan Haigh said.

Full story in this week's Herald.