Stratford Launches Spring in Ontario with Parade of Swans

STRATFORD - Stratford Ontario announces the annual spring release of the Swans will take place on March 30th at 2:00 pm. This year the celebrations will expand to a weekend of musical concerts for the Stratford Summer Music; a sneak peek of stage designs for the 2008 Stratford Shakespeare Festival season and the pageantry of Scottish pipe bands, the Stratford Civic Orchestra and over 25 swans prancing from their winter quarters to the Avon River.

Every year, swans herald the arrival of spring in Ontario and this year the community will offer visitors a weekend of special events and exhibits. Stratford Summer Music will hold public soirees in a number of Stratford's renowned restaurants featuring performances by musical artists from The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Stratford Shakespeare Festival will open its Costume Warehouse for tours and present a special exhibition of design maquettes for its upcoming 2008 season from Cabaret to Hamlet.

The high point of the weekend will be an expanded swan parade on Sunday. Heralded by horns and trumpets and proclaimed by the Mayor of Stratford and led by children and pipers, the swans will be released to the Avon River. The afternoon will culminate with an open-air concert by the Stratford Civic Orchestra to serenade the swans and the public (weather permitting).

The soirees and exhibitions will begin on Saturday, March 29th with the release of the swans taking place at 2:00pm sharp on Sunday, March 30th.