Festival Presented by Denver Public Schools Arts & Physical Education Department

Date: Friday, April 25th, 2025
Time: 10am-4pm
Location: Denver Arts Complex with Opening Ceremonies at Skyline Park

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DPS Shakespeare Festival is the oldest and largest student Shakespeare festival in the country, and includes thousands of students and teachers from schools all across the region. Historically, the Shakespeare Festival provides a forum for students to perform sonnets and scenes from the works of Shakespeare, as well as demonstrate dance and vocal and instrumental music of Shakespeare’s time. This has been reflected in having one of Shakespeare’s plays be the central theme for each Festival.

“The mission of the DPS Shakespeare Festival is to provide a whole child experience in the arts that is accessible to 100% of DPS students. The Festival presents a joyful, rigorous, and fun exploration of Denver’s rich culture of collaboration and community.”

When the shirts become available there will be a link here to order your shirts.

This year’s theme is a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest , “I long to hear the story of your life, which must captivate the ear strangely.” In alignment with DPS Citywide Events for the 2024-2025 school year theme of "Bring Your Story" we urge all of our artists to explore the stories and themes of William Shakespeare's work from within their own lived experience and discover what part of your shared experience. We encourage festival participants to perform all forms of William Shakespeare’s work, from adaptations, abridgments, modern interpretations, poems, music, and dances from Shakespeare’s canon and time. The sky’s the limit! When selecting your performance pieces this year, work with your students and think about how the theme is reflected in the piece you’ve selected. We look forward to celebrating Shakespeare and the art of storytelling with all of you this spring!