Ten wonderful days of celebrating all things Austen in the beautiful city of Bath

WHERE TO STAY

11TH-20Th SEPTEMBER 2026 

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Friday 29th May 2026

Jane Austen Festival Newsletter May 2026 #3

Greetings from sunny Bath!

Corrections; please accept our humblest apologies…

Whoooooo-oopsies, Northanger Abbey gothic-ghosts got into one or two links on our website!

Many of the links to buy online live-streaming tickets for Jane Austen Festival talks weren’t working. Like the tangled love lives of the heroes and heroines at the end of an Austen novel, these are now fixed. Hopefully we’ve made them easier to find as well- perfect for those of you who prefer staying at home for real comfort, but also want to join in with the festival.

You can now find the links under our special live-streamed talks page but also next to every live-streamed talk on the day-by-day pages of events.

Mid-week merriment

Wherever you are in the world, you’ve probably seen photos of our famous first weekend Regency Costumed Promenade! Incidentally, the Promenade is heading for another year of 2000+ participants. 

But, if you’d rather visit us when things are a little less crowded, there is plenty for Regency lovers and Austen fans midweek…

(beware- some of the below have limited tickets remaining so you might have to be swift to snap them up!)

Gothic galore..

We have events aplenty for gothic thrill-seekers!  Join us for Gothic Tales from the Tower (Tuesday 15th) or a Ghost Walk around the streets where Austen set Northanger Abbey (Tuesday 15th, Thursday 17th).

Learn about all things death and mourning with a talk on The Regency Way of Death (Tuesday 15th), or hear some grisly facts from Regency life in Crime and Punishment (Friday 18th). It’s not strictly gothic, but we think Gothic-fans will enjoy Regency Games Night at Bath Gin Bar (Tuesday 15th, Thursday 17th)- it has as many shady nooks, twists and turns as any haunted castle!

Become accomplished…

If you are looking to learn some new skills, we’ll have you turned into an accomplished lady or gentlemen in no time.  Tried a few Regency dance workshops before? Intermediate and improver workshop tickets are still available on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th (please note, if you’ve done a few workshops or balls with pre-ball dance workshops before, you’ll be fine- these workshops don’t require the same level of dance knowledge as the Experienced Dancers’ Harvest Ball). 

Croquet games are available throughout the festival, so hopefully there is a perfect time for you to grace one of the lawns of Bath Croquet Club with your presence! If you’re feeling crafty, you still have a chance to learn Basket Weaving on Tuesday 15th and Quilling on Wednesday 16th. If you’ve always wanted to get into costuming, but haven’t yet taken the dive, consider our Waistcoats at Warpspeed demonstration on Wednesday 16th or create your own Watch Fob on Friday 18th.

“…without music, life would be a blank to me.” 

We have plenty for music-lovers mid-week at this year’s Jane Austen Festival. 

You can have a go at singing yourself in our Regency Rum Bluffers Pride and Prejudice Singing Workshop (Thursday 17th)- no need to sight-read, all music is taught and learnt by ear!

However, if you fancy donning your Regency finery and listening to some music in a spectacular venue, rather than singing it yourself, A Musical Kind of Little Wilderness in Bath Abbey on Wednesday 18th, or our Pride and Prejudice in Words and Music in the Pump Rooms on Monday 14th, will be perfect for you.

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Jane Austen Festival without the chance to learn more about Austen’s novels! Learn about Clothing in the Novels of Jane Austen (Monday 14th), Landscapes and Gardens in the Novels of Jane Austen (Tuesday 15th) and The Secret Language of Austen’s Flowers (Wednesday 16th). 

If you’d like to look at a novel in a different way, consider our Sense and Sensibility writing workshop on Wednesday 16th. And, while it isn’t strictly mid-week, it would be remiss of us not to mention that Prof John Mullan is giving us two talks (Jealousy in Jane Austen and Jane Austen’s Sick Characters) on Saturday 19th.

That’s not all. History hounds, elegantly attired costumers, excellent walkers and those who- like Elizabeth Bennet- “dearly love a laugh” will all find the perfect occasion for them in the Jane Austen Festival full programme. 

Please accept our best wishes for your health (particularly those of you in the south of the UK tolerating the heat wave!) and happiness,

The Jane Austen Festival Team
Bath, UK