World Shakespeare Congress

The 2026 World Shakespeare Congress will mark the International Shakespeare Association’s 50th anniversary.

The important event will be held in Verona, a city loved by all Shakespearean artists, from July 20th to 26th 2026.

Shakespeareans will gather in the beautiful and historic city on the Adige River, a vital crossroads of ancient and early modern Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the setting for The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Romeo and Juliet.

The WSC will address questions related to the role of Shakespeare in connection with contemporary concerns about the destiny of our planet and human beings at a time when humanism has been deeply challenged.
The Congress will foster discussion of the many ways in which Shakespeare may be conceived as ‘planetary’, reaching out to resonances with new cultural galaxies of enquiry, debate, and knowledge.

The congress includes a busy calendar of events that will take place across a number of venues in the city centre of Verona: The University Site of Santa Marta, The Department of Cultures and Civilisations “Polo Zanotto”, the Società letteraria di Verona (Verona Literary Society), Juliet’s Tomb and the G.B. Cavalcaselle Frescoes Museum, the Museum of Natural History – Palazzo Pompei.