On Friday May 10, Denver Public Schools will celebrate the l8th Annual Shakespeare Festival in lower downtown Denver, always one of the most colorful and interesting events of the school year.

Approximately 3,000 students from 60 schools will present excerpts from the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare plus music and dance of the Renaissance period.

The performers will appear on nine stages located between 15th and 18th Streets in Skyline Park, on the Sixteenth Street Mall, Independence Plaza and at D&F Tower.

Those students not chosen during pre-show jurying to appear on one of the stages will have an opportunity to perform street theatre at various, natural stage sites in the same areas.

Performances are scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., preceded by a Rout (parade) from the Denver Performing Arts Complex along Curtis Street to the 16th Street Mall, up 16th to D&F Tower and Skyline Park.

Opening ceremonies will take place at the Olde Globe Theatre in Skyline Park between the D&F Tower and 17th Street prior to the beginning of the scheduled performance.

At 1:30 p.m., the Shakespeare Challenge Bowl trivia contest will pit students from high school, middle school and elementary school against celebrity contestants from businesses, the arts and the media. This contest will take place at the Tower Theatre on the large brick pad outside the D&F Tower at 16th and Arapahoe.

Throughout the day, media, theatre, arts and business leaders will act as GuildMasters for the festival. They will award ribbons in a spontaneous fashion to any student who, for them, represents The Spirit of Shakespeare and the festival. They also will spend one hour viewing acts upon a single stage and will write a critique/review to be presented following the event to each participating school.

The Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Festival is one of the largest festivals in the country. The festival was honored by the U. S. Department of Education, National Diffusion Network and the prestigious Folger Library in Washington, D. C. when it was named a demonstration site for the teaching of Shakespeare for 1993-95.

In 1993, the Festival received an Arts in the Marketplace Award. In 1994, the festival and its director, J. Joe Craft, were presented with the Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

For additional information call 303.405.8278 or E-mail to joe_craft@dpsk12.org.