Although Shakespeare’s (presumed) birthday is on April 23rd, today was the day when Stratford-upon-Avon threw him his party. It’s rather fitting, since the 26th is when we know he was baptized. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire town devote itself to something like this; festivities like those that happened today are usually reserved for national holidays. I’d be interested to know what the celebrations are like on a normal year, whether all this hullabaloo is simply due to Shakespeare turning 450. But regardless of what happens any other year, in 2014 Stratford-upon-Avon pulled out all the stops: handing out flags and balloons to spectators; having a parade with marching bands, school children, Morris dancers, and a massive horse-drawn (disappointingly fake) birthday cake; unfurling up to hundreds of flags down a major street, including a giant banner of Shakespeare’s face; and bringing in five guest town criers to lead the crowd in three cheers for William Shakespeare.
What a birthday party! I can’t think of any bigger, unless you want to count Christmas celebrations, but today was much more devoted to Shakespeare than Christmas tends to be about Christ’s birth. Although, certain elements of the festivities today did have a religious feel. When the announcer described the parade’s procession through town, he called the journey from Shakespeare’s birthplace to his grave a pilgrimage. A telling, but somewhat appropriate choice of words. Although we do come to Stratford as tourists, we don’t come to sight-see – we are drawn by Shakespeare himself. He has an influence and pull on people that seems to only be matched by religious figures, and the occasional political.
Although a birthday party for a (long) dead man may seem odd, Shakespeare doesn’t feel dead here. Indeed, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has chosen the phrase “Shakespeare lives here” to promote the 450th celebrations. The use of the present tense indicates the town’s attitude towards Shakespeare; not only did he once live here, but he still has a palpable presence in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare’s own words in his famed Sonnet 18 sum up how the love and admiration people have for his works keeps him alive:
“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
