The curtain goes up Friday, May 14 for the twentieth time on one of the most colorful, delightful and inspiring events on the Denver Public Schools calendar - The Shakespeare Festival.

Much ado will be made in downtown Denver as the festival follows a new parade course and tests out new stages - indoor and outdoor - at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

The May 2004 edition of The Shakespeare Festival will begin at 10 a.m. in the Greek Theater in Civic Center with Mayor John Hickenlooper presiding.

The always-colorful parade will then swarm across Colfax Ave. and down 15th St. to Curtis St. before taking a left-hand turn toward the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. (Traditionally, the festival has been held along the Sixteenth Street Mall and throughout Skyline Park, but the city’s overhaul of Skyline makes that location unusable this year.)

Beginning at 10:45 a.m., students will showcase their acting talent and Shakespearean way with words. In all, more than 400 scenes will be performed on 11 stages, including two indoor locations - The Space and The Jones - and four stages in the Sculpture Park. The event runs through mid-afternoon.

The day will also include a “Challenge Bowl” to test student knowledge of Shakespearean history and trivia.

The enthusiasm and energy generated by the festival has earned it a string of awards and considerable attention, some of it national. The festival was designated as a National Demonstration Site for the teaching of Shakespeare for 1993-1995 by the U.S. Department of Education, The Folger Library in Washington, D.C. and the National Diffusion Network. The festival has also received the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (1994) and an Arts in the Market Place Award (1993).

In all, 80 schools will be represented by some 3,000 students. Another 300 parent volunteers will be on hand to assist and 110 GuildMasters - members of local theater and singing groups - will provide written critiques of the performances.

For more information, contact the DPS Public Information Office at 720-423-3414.