Celebrate the work and times of the Great Bard at Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens! 

The gardens in Mt Coot-tha are set to transform into an Elizabethan pageant of music, craft, botanical discoveries, and Shakespearian delights.

Highlights will include outdoor performances of Half-hour Hamlet and Instant Romeo and Juliet by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble and music by the Indooroopilly Chamber Orchestra. And it’s all happening on Sunday, April 21st. 

There will be lots to see, hear and do. Listen to the sweet tones of our Renaissance musicians – lute, viol, and harp – in the Japanese Garden or take a guided walk to view the flowers and plants featured in Shakespeare’s plays. Watch the fencing by Prima Spada and Elizabethan dancing displays, or better still, join in.

Learn about the exciting New World plant discoveries happening at that time or see what was growing already in the traditional English garden. Visit the Physic Garden and apothecary stall to learn how plants were important elements in dyes, medicine, cosmetics, and beverages (such as beer). 

Learn Elizabethan beauty tips, or how to create a manuscript ‘illuminated letter’ – they’ll have all the latest in Tudor trends.

Make your own pomander bead, create a tussie-mussie, or try your hand dyeing with indigo, making paper or binding your very own book. Watch the mad monk explain the ins and outs of making Tudor beer, try some delicious mead, or spend time with the spinners, weavers and felters. Don’t forget to check out what’s cooking in the Elizabethan Kitchen.

There will be performances at 11am and 12.30pm. You are welcome to come in costume and join the performance. All are welcome to part in the dance. At 12pm Dr Heather Clarke will be giving a talk about dance in Shakespeare’s life and plays.

This is a free event by Brisbane City Council.

Picture: Mt Coot-tha gardens will be transformed into an Elizabethan pageant to celebrate Shakespeare. Credit: Facebook/BrisbaneCityCouncil