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Stratford Festival – The Stratford Festival has
been going strong since 1953, growing until today it runs for 6 months of
the year. The heart of the festival are the plays of Shakespeare (well,
the town is named after his birthplace) but there's lots of variety here
on the festival stages, including musicals like The Sound of Music.
For the Festival Web site, click
here. |
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 Take
one of the Festival Costume Warehouse Tours and see the glorious
costumes up close, learn what it takes to make the lords and ladies look
regal on stage. Or join in the Backstage Tour and see what the world
looks like from the other side of the proscenium. |
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In the summer there are open air concerts and art shows in parks,
along the river – even on the river! Check with the tourism office
for information on free concerts all around the area. |
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St. Mary's – Take a drive to St. Mary's,
"The Stone Town." Many of the buildings here are built of local
limestone, some are quite beautiful. This a great place to stroll around
(ask at the tourism office for a walking map): visit the town hall, opera
house, water tower, churches and antiques shops to see the best of the town's
19th century stonemasonry. |
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If
you've got kids who love baseball, tell them you're going to see the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, set improbably in a quaint looking
building fit for an English vicar. Step inside and learn Canadians have
been playing the game since 1838, and 101 other Canadiana baseball facts. |
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On Fridays
(weather permitting) a piper plays the bagpipes by the waterfall;
on Saturdays shop the farmer's market. |
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Go down on the farm – There are lots
of farms in the area around Stratford and many of them offer something special
to visitors. |
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Brickman's
Botanical Gardens (Sebringville) is a 50 acre farm with dozens of animal
breeds as well as a big six acre garden filled with thousands of species.
There's even a little "tea room" for snacks. |
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The Birtch Farms and Winery, about half an hour south of Stratford, has pick-your-own fruit crops and a little farm market. |
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McCully's
Farm is a 120 acre Black Angus farm, but there's also sheep, miniature
donkeys and horses. Stop for a tour of the farm on a horse drawn wagon and a snack of farm-fresh foods and maple sugar candy at the Farm Market. |
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David
Carson Farms (Listowel) is a 600 acre draft horse, dairy, and beef cattle
farm where you can watch livestock auctions and take a hayride. |
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Bubbly novel
set in Stratford, 12 year-old Pegeen dreams of being in the Festival.
When Mr. B., a world traveler, comes to stay in her mother's boardinghouse,
Pegeen discovers the thrill of Shakespeare's plays. (Chapter book)
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Shakespeare's
plays, presented in a picture-panel format, with detailed lively
illustrations. The plays included are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,
The Winter's Tale, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest. Super for little kids, before you see a Shakespeare
play.
(Picture book)
And
don't miss More
Tales from Shakespeare – As you Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard
III, Twelfth Night, King Lear, The Merchant
of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing.
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Planning to
see Hamlet at the Stratford Festival? The plot has a lot of twists, so before you go, read this accessible adaptation
by Bruce Colville (author of I Was a Sixth Grade Alien),
imaginatively illustrated. (Chapter book, illustrations)
Also by the same author, Romeo
and Juliet and, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth
Night.
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Delightful retelling
of Shakespeare's comedy, The Tempest. Shipwrecked
on the island, Ferdinand falls in love with Miranda, but there's
plenty of magic and confusion, caused by mysterious heaps and
heavenly sprites, before all's well that ends well. Gorgeously
illustrated with glowing colors and dazzling detail. (Picture
book)
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Contemporary,
fresh adaptation of ten Shakespeare plays, each uniquely illustrated
by a different artist. "This is the true legacy of Shakespeare's
plays – to see ourselves, to see the world, and to act."
A totally unstuffy approach that makes the plays come alive. (Chapter
book, illustrations)
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(More children's
books on other Ontario pages) |
