Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival was established in 1990 with a mandate to provide Vancouver residents and tourists with affordable, accessible Shakespearean productions of the finest quality. The Festival began as an Equity Co-op, funded primarily by a Canada Council Explorations grant awarded to Artistic Director and Founder, Christopher Gaze. A fully professional, not-for-profit theatre company, Bard on the Beach now engages thirty actors each season as well as a team of exceptional directors, designers, and technicians; it is also supported by more than 200 volunteers. The productions consistently receive both critical and audience acclaim and repeatedly play to sold out houses.

The plays are staged in Vanier Park on Vancouver's waterfront, in open-ended tents against a spectacular backdrop of mountains, sea and sky. The Mainstage tent seats 520 patrons and offers two productions staged in repertory from end of May through September. The 240-seat Douglas Campbell Studio Stage was added in 1999 as a venue for the lesser-known plays in Shakespeare's canon or innovative stagings of his greater works. In addition to its Shakespeare productions, Bard offers many ancillary activities including opera concerts and specialty workshops and forums. The tented 'Bard Village' offers a range of patron services including concessions, bar and boutique.

Over the years Bard on the Beach attendance has grown significantly from 6,000 patrons in 1990 to more than 90,000 patrons in 2009. Its budget has increased from $35,000 that first season to $3.5 million in 2009. The programming has of course expanded from one play to four, and from 34 performances to 215 two decades later. In 2003, through a collaboration with Mission Hill Family Estate winery called 'Bard in the Vineyard', Bard on the Beach also presented a production in the Okanagan for the month of August.

Through its constantly expanding community outreach, Bard hosts the immensely popular Young Shakespeareans Summer Workshops for youth and teens on site during the summer, and Bard in the Classroom workshops for students and teachers during the school term. Artistic Director Christopher Gaze continually spreads enthusiasm for the magic of Shakespeare's plays through guest appearances at corporate, scholastic and private events.  

BARD ON THE BEACH CHRONOLOGY OF PERFORMANCES