Shakespeare Jubilee
- When
- 1769
- Where
- Stratford-upon-Avon, festival town
- Episodes
- 3
The Shakespeare Jubilee was staged in Stratford-upon-Avon between 6 and 8 September 1769, organised by the actor and theatre manager David Garrick to celebrate the Jubilee of the birth of William Shakespeare. The event had a major impact on the rising tide of bardolatry that led to Shakespeare's becoming established as the English national poet.
Episodes
- Staging of the Shakespeare Jubilee
David Garrick staged the Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon between 6 and 8 September 1769, celebrating Shakespeare's birth.
- First day: Queen Mab performed
Dibdin's Queen Mab was performed on the first day of Garrick's festival in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Second day: Garrick's speech to the Shakespeare Ladies Club
On the Jubilee's second day Garrick thanked the Shakespeare Ladies Club for restoring Shakespeare's popularity and for the Westminster Abbey memorial statue.
Background and detail
Background. Garrick, Britain's most famous Shakespearean actor and most influential theatre owner-manager, had the idea for the Jubilee when he was approached by Stratford-upon-Avon's town leaders, who wanted him to fund a statue of Shakespeare to stand in the Town Hall. The festival he organised celebrated the Jubilee of Shakespeare's birth.
The Festival. The Jubilee ran in Stratford-upon-Avon between 6 and 8 September 1769. On the first day, Dibdin's Queen Mab was performed. On the second day, Garrick delivered a speech thanking the Shakespeare Ladies Club for restoring Shakespeare's popularity and for their contribution to the memorial statue in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. The day-to-date mappings are inferred from the festival's 6–8 September span; the sources date these events only to the first and second days of the festival.
Legacy. The Jubilee had a major impact on the rising tide of bardolatry that led to Shakespeare's becoming established as the English national poet. Dibdin's The Jubilee, together with Queen Mab and Datchet Mead, was recorded in a 2019 release featuring singer Simon Butteriss and keyboardist Stephen Higgins.
People involved
- David Garrick · Organiser; actor and theatre manager who staged the Jubilee and delivered a speech on its second day
- Shakespeare Ladies Club · Honoured by Garrick for restoring Shakespeare to the stage and contributing to the Westminster Abbey memorial statue
Sources
- Shakespeare Jubilee Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-23
- David Garrick Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.