The Chicago Tribune reports that more than 60 local and a dozen international organizations and entrepreneurs will take part in the festival, among them the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Shanghai Peking Opera, the Joffrey Ballet and the Pushkin Theatre of Moscow. Celebrities chefs such as Rick Bayless and Alpana Singh will also contribute.

About 100 productions with more than 850 performances will be offered; 500,000 audience members are expected to attend.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel said, "This will allow us to tap our strength as a city utilizing all of our broad-based cultural institutions working across fields, which is how Shakespeare worked himself."

He added, "I think Chicago is the perfect place to celebrate Shakespeare's gift to the world, using all of our collective cultural strength."

Productions will include Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's The Merchant of Venice, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night, Declan Donnellan's Measure for Measure (a co-production of Cheek by Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre) and the Shanghai Peking Opera's The Revenge of Prince Zi Dan, which is based on Hamlet.

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