Town and Gown came together once again on the morning of 23 April to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with a joyful parade through the streets of Oxford from the historic Oxford Castle to the hidden gem that is the Painted Room on Cornmarket.

This much loved tradition, proudly maintained by OPT, brought history to life as the parade began with a spirited galliard in the castleyard led by drag performer Hannah Clift in the role of the Bard himself.

Mr Shakespeare then joined his patron Queen Elizabeth I, played by Cairo Ali from the Oxford Drag Collective, along with the High Sheriff, Lord Mayor, Sheriff of Oxford in all their finery along Queen Street. With the Town Crier leading the way and music from the medieval musicians the Oxford Waits, the parade was a spectacle of music, colour and frivolity.

The Painted Room, hidden on Cornmarket, is part of a 14th-century timber-framed tavern, with colourful Elizabethan wall paintings. It is also the place where William Shakespeare stayed on his trips from London to Stratford-upon-Avon. Dr Elizabeth Sandis was on hand to raise the birthday toast in the Painted Room, wearing her own gown customised with embroidered flowers represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream, she discussed the role of actors and costume within Shakespearean playmaking.