The Southampton Days Parade

The theme for this years parade is 

"Robin Hood"

Get your costumes together and joins us for a fun day.

We have more images and video but they are not immediate available, Keep watch.

The Parade in Southampton takes place on the July 4th weekend.  It is a very large parade and stands as the best possible publicity event for The Shakespearean of Tamanend Park.  This year represents the third year that we are gathering to walk in the parade.  Last year we had 15 people walking in the parade and the theme was "The Earl of Southampton presents Queen Elizabeth"  it was a lot of fun and we walked the two mile route, ending at the stage with a barbecue and some script-in-hand readings from "Much Ado About Nothing".  As it turned out, we won first place in the neighborhood division for our efforts.

The Queen and her Lady in Waiting

  We did not invite the parade watchers to a performance after the parade, because it was uncertain how the presence of the carnival would effect the stage area within the park.  As it turned out, we could not even hear the carnival and performances would have been perfect for the day.  So this year we are going to make an attempt at performing for the public.  You will see below the references to "Midsummer" a new musical by Michael Dutka.  We will be presenting Act I Scene I from this new musical after the parade this year and we are working to invite other performers to make a presentation at that time.

Our first gathering at the 2008 parade

    If you are an Elizabethan or Renaissance performer, you are welcome to join us in the parade, and to present whatever material you may like onstage during or after the barbecue.  We will have script in hand readings for anyone who would like to try their hand at reading Shakespeare.

    This year, the parade will be taking place on July 5th followed in the evening by the fireworks.  So that eliminates a film showing for that night.  However, we will be showing Errol Flynn in Robin Hood" on Saturday night the 3rd of July.

   The barbecue is open to anyone who attends the "after-the-parade-gathering" and and this year we expect the barbecue to be operated by a food service vendor who will charge for the food.  Those persons who walk in the parade, helping to hand out flyers and entertain the audience and thespians who are performing onstage, will receive a voucher for their complimentary food. 

  We hope that the barbecue can become a fund raising event to help us with future productions at The Meadow Amphitheatre and to help us to enhance and grow the efforts with "Shakespeare in the Park". There is much to do with all of this and your assistance would be most appreciated.

  Keep an eye out here for more details as we get closer to the event dates.  An effort is being made right now to publish "The Shakespearean Journal" and to distribute it to the public.

   If you care to be a sponsor of this event by purchasing advertising in The Journal or contributing in another way, please contact Arthur Greisiger at imagemindag@verizon.net or call 215-322-1566 and leave a message.

This is a hoot, you'd think I never left Southampton.  Here's a shot of me as an Indian Chief in the Southampton Independence Day Parade from 1962. That's when we were in Indian Guides.