The Shakespeare Jubilee

David Garrick's Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769, widely credited as being a key moment in Stratford’s history, was a festival which began Stratford-upon-Avon’s development into a tourist destination. The organiser was David Garrick, a renowned 18^th century actor, theatre manager, playwright and producer.

• Read more about the man behind the Shakespeare Jubilee: David Garrick

By 1769 Garrick was one of the most famous actors of his day, noted for his Shakespearian roles as, amongst others, Hamlet and Richard III. The Jubilee was primarily a celebration of the opening of Stratford’s new Town Hall. Garrick had donated a statue of William Shakespeare to be revealed at the same time as the opening, and began to plan accompanying entertainment.  

The three-day festival started well, despite the fact that Stratford struggled to cope with the influx of visitors to the town. At 6am on September 6, a great volley could be heard rumbling from the 30 cannons lined up on the banks of the river Avon. There was music and singing in the streets and a public breakfast at the Town Hall attended by Garrick and his wife, the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Stratford and other members of the nobility and gentry. Later in the day there was an oratorio at Holy Trinity Church and in the evening a ball took place in a specially constructed rotunda by the river.

On the second day, disaster struck. It began to rain heavily and continued to do so for the large part of the following 24 hours. The streets were flooded, the river rose high around the rotunda and the much-anticipated ‘grand pageant’ had to be cancelled. Garrick was able to perform his Ode to Shakespeare in the rotunda itself, but the evening’s firework display was a wash-out and the masked ball nearly called off because of the weather.

On the final day, many of the visitors were clamouring to leave town: their departure delayed only by the insufficient transport available to carry them back to London. Only a small crowd attended the final event: a horse chase for the Jubilee Cup. The diarist James Boswell wrote:

Many of Garrick’s contemporaries made fun of the Jubilee, which was seen by some as a vulgar, unsophisticated and flippant attempt to celebrate the nation’s great poet. Garrick himself saw it as a failure and never returned to the town again. Despite the Jubilee’s setbacks, the event irrevocably placed Stratford-upon-Avon on the proverbial Shakespearian map, and brought the small market town to the attention of Bardolators in a way that, ultimately, allowed for the successful campaign to save Shakespeare’s Birthplace in 1847.

• Find out more about the legacy of the Shakespeare Birthplace: The Birthplace Now