SHAKESPEARE fans can enjoy a free film festival from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

As part of its year-long Complete Works Festival, the RSC is hosting a free season of Shakespeare films, to be shown on a huge outdoor screen on the banks of the River Avon.

The season kicks off on Saturday with Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, followed by the well-known Laurence Olivier film of Henry V on Sunday.

Next weekend, audiences can enjoy Fred McLeod Wilcox's Forbidden Planet, based on the Tempest, and Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons starring in the 2004 film of The Merchant of Venice.

And the final weekend of the festival sees A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth.

RSC picnic hampers are available to pre-order online at ww.rsc.org.uk or by calling 01789 403492.

All films start at 9pm.