A crowd of Scottish Kings, princes of Denmark, Romans, pirates, fairies, star-crossed lovers and cross-dressing aristocrats — all of them enrolled in public school in Colorado — invaded downtown Denver Friday.
Denver school officials expected more than 5,000 students to participate in the district’s day-long Shakespeare Festival. Students gathered in Skyline Park and paraded to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, where they performed scenes from Shakespeare’s plays including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, and a version of Twelfth Night set in the American West. There were also performances of Shakespeare’s sonnets and Elizabethan musical and dance performances.
Here are some scenes from the day: