Following their final meeting on May 12, the committee for the Shakespeare in Gloucester Festival has disbanded permanently. 

The festival has entertained residents, visitors and school students since its inception in 1998.

Starting life in a field marquee at Stratford under the previous name of Shakespeare on Avon Festival. 

The first festival featured Shakespeare’s classic Two Gentlemen of Verona performed by Newcastle University Drama Society. 

The 16th festival in 2014 showcased the talented work of Newcastle’s award-winning Stooged Theatre in their adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Audience surveys and feedback rated those performances as the best ever seen at the festival. 

In 2015, the Shakespeare in Gloucester Festival did not take to the stage however the GACCI Players kept the Shakespeare torch burning with their King Lear-inspired performance of Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth.  

The Shakespeare committee Chair Maureen Hjorth said the 12 month break from the 2014 festival had provided committee members with a well-earned rest and a chance to consider the options to keep the festival continuing. 

“With increasing costs and limited sponsor funds available we’ve discussed shorter versions, school-only versions, GACCI-only versions, versions without meals and versions without the Elizabethan Faire,” Maureen said.

“It’s hard to delete any of these options because they all have a certain appeal. 

“Most critical is getting the best theatre company. But in the end analysis, the Shakespeare event seems to have run its natural course. 

“The committee is tired and there’s not enough committed support in the community to keep it running. And there’s certainly no point running an event just because you have always done so.”

Gloucester Shire Tourism manager Wendy Hughes was disappointed but not surprised by the news. 

“Audience surveys showed the average spend by visitors attending the festival was $243 per person including accommodation. They spent an average of $123 per person in main street business and the farmers market, so they were a wonderful economic benefit and the festival was a fun highlight of the Gloucester visitor economy. 

“However I’ve always said that community events are best run by community members so I fully understand the decision of the Festival committee to disband.”