Jane Austen's Bath - minibus tour

9:00 (duration 3 hours)

Meet: outside the Jane Austen Centre, 40 Gay Street, BA1 2NT 

A combination of walking and driving visiting outdoor locations in Austen's Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Includes Charlcombe, described by Jane as 'being sweetly situated in a little green valley', and finishes with the best view of Bath from that 'Noble Hill'.
For this event you will travel in a small luxury 21st Century minibus driven by your tour guide Adge Secker.

Tickets £48

Lets Talk About Love

10:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Bath Elim Church, Charlotte St, BA1 2ND

“Love must be authentic, complete, and wholehearted”
Join the Queen of Hearts for an amusing but informative look at the rules of society regarding Love, Courtship, Marriage and matters of the heart in Miss Austen’s time. Also explore the gestures of the Language of the Fan as you prepare for conversations across the dance floor!
Ticket entitles you to a discount on the purchase of your very own fan and language of the fan booklet.

Tickets £18 from enquiries@baththeatrical.com

A Very Private Public Breakfast

10:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: Kinwarton, 3 Upper Camden Place, (part of) Camden Rd, BA1 5HX (20 mins walk from central Bath)

Sample the delights of an 18th Century public breakfast just as Jane Austen did in Bath. Bread rolls, toasted fruit bread, cake, tea (Jane Austen blend) or coffee - all in the private dining room of a typical Regency Bath house. Breakfast is accompanied by a talk from Jane Tapley.

Tickets £16

Pride & Prejudice Book Club

10:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: Bath Central Library, 19-23 The Podium, BA1 5AN

To start our festival week off with a suitably Austen event, you are welcomed to Jane Austen Festival book club at Bath Library, to discuss "everybody's favourite novel", Pride & Prejudice.
Please reserve a place to indicate you will be attending. You can also suggest a question or point to discuss during the session when booking.

Free Event - please reserve a place

Austen's Arcadia

13:00 (duration 1 hour)

Meet: in foyer of Theatre Royal, Saw Close, BA1 1ET

Jane Tapley follows the career of one of the earliest and greatest female writers of the 18th century, if not of all time. Hear about her quiet private life as an unmarried vicar's daughter and her personal struggle for independence, and how her novels gathered momentum and appreciation after her death. Talk followed by a Q&A.

Tickets £12.50 from Theatre Royal Box Office, theatreroyal.org.uk

"Carriages" to Meryton & Longbourn - minibus tour

13:15 (duration 4 hours)

Meet: outside the Jane Austen Centre, 40 Gay Street, BA1 2NT

Starting with a driving tour of Austen’s Bath, then onto the village of Luckington to visit the St Mary with St Ethelbert Church and walk in the footsteps of the P&P 1995 cast. Next Lacock – a village trapped in time and the location for Meryton & Highbury. Then back to Bath to finish with the best view of Bath from that 'Noble Hill’.
For this event you will travel in a small luxury 21st Century minibus driven by your tour guide Adge Secker.

Tickets £58

Draw back the Curtain

14:30 (duration 1 hour)

Meet: in foyer of Theatre Royal, Saw Close, BA1 1ET

Join Jane Tapley, Special Events Organiser at the Theatre Royal, for an illustrated talk on the theatre in Georgian times and its influence on Jane Austen's novels. The talk will take place in Bath's Georgian theatre built in 1805, the year Austen left Bath for the delights of Clifton.

Tickets £12.50 from Theatre Royal Box Office, theatreroyal.org.uk

Wristband pick-up point #1

15:00 (duration 2 hours) 

Venue: Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH

Collection point for Saturday 14th Grand Regency Costumed Promenade wristbands which have been pre-purchased online. If you have not already bought them, you can also purchase wristbands (£14 per adult) here too.

Friday Festival Fayre

15:00 (duration 3 hours) 

Venue: Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH

New for 2024, we will be opening the Festival Fayre for a few hours on Friday afternoon, for visitors to pick up some last-minute bits of Regency finery ready for Promenade day! Explore the Ballroom for a first look at the stalls offering hats, fans, gloves and lots more.
Entry to the fayre is £3 on the door for all, entry to the Friday Fayre is NOT included with the Promenade Wristbands.

Tickets £3 on the door (cash or card)

Pre - Ball Dance Workshop #1

15:30 (duration 1hr 30mins) 

Venue: Tea Room, Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH

This Regency dance workshop is a practice session for those attending the Netherfield Ball on Saturday 14th September, led by Liz Bartlett of the Jane Austen Dancers.
If you are new to Regency dancing, this workshop is for you, as it will cover the basic steps & patterns, and give you the chance to learn some of the dances ready for the Assembly in the evening.

This workshop is a duplication of the Pre-Ball Dance Workshop #2 taking place on Saturday 14th at 14:30, workshop content will be the same

Fully Booked

Festival Welcome Reception

18:00 (duration 2 hours) 

Venue: Card Room, Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH

Join us in the Card Room of the Assembly Rooms for an informal welcome drink and chatter. Catch up with old and new friendly Festival faces, and ask those all important questions about the week ahead. A chance to meet the Festival team and a great place to meet up if it's your first Festival.
Includes a welcome drink, with a bar open for the evening too. Costume is not mandatory but recommended.

Tickets £15

Dancer's Harvest Ball

19:00 (duration 3 hours) 

Venue: Tea Room, Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH

Enjoy a mixed evening of Regency dancing with your fellow experienced dancers, with calling from Liz Bartlett of the Jane Austen Dancers, Sally Petchey of the Hampshire Regency Dancers, and Libby Curzon from Mrs Bennets’ Ballroom, to live music provided by Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer.

A bar will be open throughout the evening. No food will be served at this event but please feel free to bring your own snacks. There will be a short mid-evening break.

This dance event is for those with Regency or English country dance experience and a good grasp on dance terminology. The callers will walk & talk everyone through the dances before the music is played, but there will be no dance workshop beforehand… you’ll need to know your reels from your rigadons!
Regency costume mandatory for this event. 

Tickets £42