New additions enhance the Idaho Shakespeare Festival experience

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Idaho Shakespeare Festivalisn't just for people wanting to see a play. Their summer concert series has great music, beautiful scenery, and it's free!

"That concert series takes place about 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm every night and you don't have to have a ticket or be seeing a play to come out and have a wonderful time picking out your picnic and delightful goodies at the marketplace and then watching the little mini concert," said Hannah Read Newbill, Idaho Shakespeare Festival Director of Marketing. "It's just a little insider kind of secret."

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival Mini-Concert Series is open to everyone. Click here to view their schedule.

"I think it's awesome, it's like an added bonus before the show," said Idaho Shakespeare Festival Education Director,Ryan Singh. "You get to come out, enjoy live music while you're eating and mixing and mingling with folks around the pavilion here and it's just really great."

If you're interested in enjoying a picnic, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival Marketplace opened about a month ago.

"The marketplace is all grab and go, which is the coolest thing. There's no menu or something to preorder but there's definitely something for everybody," saidRead Newbill. "There's wine, there's beer, there's Idaho 44 North Huckleberry Vodka, these big bottles that you could get for your whole party. There's also a fantastic huge selection of non-alcoholic drinks, which is really exciting."

Once you've shopped at the marketplace, there are many places to enjoy your new goods.

"There are these amazing little stone picnic tables and seats where you can sit and look out at the river, in the ponds, and see all the wildlife around you," said Read Newbill. "Or you can just walk around and visit with all the lovely people in the community around the grounds."

While the marketplace has a wide selection of goods to choose from, it isn't your only option.

"You can bring your own drinks and you can bring your own food," said Read Newbill. "One of my favorite things to do is walk through and see who brought what. People will come in with a pizza and a six pack on their shoulders, all the way down to, I've seen people have a full on crab boil laid out on their box table, so you can really bring anything. It's wonderful."

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival's next play, 'Into the Woods,' starts on Friday.

"I love it. I've seen it and it is mind blowing. The sets, the costumes, the acting, the teams did such a wonderful job bringing it all together and it's very exciting," saidSingh.

Click here to purchase tickets to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Although certain shows may appear to be sold out online, that may not always be the case.

"We feel like we need to myth bust because people will go online and they won't be able to get eight tickets all together on the exact date they want, but there's still lots of tickets available for the whole season," said Read Newbill. "The best thing we can say is to call our box office team because the computer can only do so much and be a little flexible and we will find ways to get you in. We are here to help you figure out when you can come and enjoy this beautiful place."

You can reach the Idaho Shakespeare Festival box office at (208) 336-9221.

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival goes until September 29th and they hope you'll join them!

"The sense of community and the amazing picnicking and then the incredible shows in this setting, it's really hard to explain until you actually come out and experience it," said Read Newbill. "It's such a thing that this community has embraced and taken ownership of and we love them for it and if you haven't come you should try it out."

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