Stratford

Enjoy some of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays at the Shaw and Stratford Festivals. Ride The Maid of the Mist tour and stand in awe of Niagara Falls’ rushing waters. Take a sunset stroll along the bank of the Avon River and watch the swans. These are some of the experiences you can have on FHU’s week-long trip to Stratford, Canada. The trip typically occurs every other year in May and is open to FHU students as well as alumni and friends of the University.

The group attends around seven productions during the trip, with optional performances occurring at other times during the week at additional cost. Recent plays have included Shakespeare’s As You Like It and MacBeth, Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd, and The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Performed on the Stratford Festival’s legendary thrust stage, these performances feature some of Canada’s leading theater actors. No audience member is more than 65 feet from the stage for these dynamic productions.

Niagara Falls AND Shaw Festival

The trip begins with a drive from Henderson to Niagara Falls. Travelers will require their passports on this first day, because the best view of the falls is from the Canadian side. The group will spend a couple of days visiting Niagara Falls and attending two or three plays at the Shaw Festival held at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Shaw Festival features works by George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. The group will have plenty of time to visit local shops and admire the view of Lake Ontario before heading west to Stratford.

Stratford Festival

Shakespeare’s plays have been the highlight of the Stratford Festival since 1953, although the festival also features a variety of theater productions from Greek tragedies to Broadway musicals. The group attends roughly five plays while in Stratford, with several optional plays available throughout the day. In between shows, attendees can explore the local shops and bookstores and enjoy the winding Avon River (named after the River Avon that flows through England’s Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of the Bard himself). The group also participates in a backstage tour, takes a day trip to Toronto, tours the festival's costume and prop warehouse, and visits a nearby Amish village where the largest farmer’s market in Ontario is located.