Sunday 14th September 2025

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 £18

Jane Austen & Bath - walking tour

10:00 & 14:30 (duration 1hr 30mins)

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

'Oh! Who could ever be tired of Bath?’ So said Jane Austen’s character Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, which (along with her novel Persuasion) is set in Bath. Through family links and having visited and lived in the city, Austen knew Bath very well indeed. Come and find out more on this walking tour led by Mr Knightley of The Jane Austen Centre.

The 10:00 walking tour will finish at 11:30 outside Bath Abbey to enable people to attend the Regency Church Service if they wish. 

Tickets £14

A Whole Campful of Soldiers

10:00 - 15:00 (open 5 hours)

Venue: Holburne Museum Grounds, Great Pulteney Street, BA2 4DB

Back by popular demand… a whole campful of soldiers!
This year, our camp will be bigger than ever, featuring His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot accompanied by the Coldstream Guards. Visit their encampment at the Holburne Museum and experience a whole campful of soldiers with authentic drill displays, music and talks presenting life at war:

13:00 Music and Songs in the Army.
A demonstaration of music from the period performed by the 33rd Foot

14:00 Duelling in the time of Jane Austen
A comparison of how a pistol duel is often portrayed in film compared with evidence of how it would actually have been conducted.

All Free Events

Croquet Game

11:00, 13:00 & 15:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: Bath Croquet Club, Great Pulteney Street, Recreation Ground, BA2 4DS (entrance via Great Pulteney Street)

Spend 1 hour experiencing the Regency sport of "Pall-Mall" with an outdoor croquet game at Bath Croquet Club. Equipment and introductory instructions provided, enjoy a relaxed game of croquet, followed by post-match refreshments in the Croquet Pavilion.
Refreshments included in the ticket price.

Tickets £25

Ladies of Leisure

11:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: Banqueting Room, Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW

Do you fancy a spot of Regency cricket? Or is lolling on the sofa with a book more your thing?
This delightful talk from the creator of Bad Girls & Bonnets and Ladies of a Certain Age explores pleasures and pastimes in Jane Austen’s era, from ambling in the shrubbery to enchanting embroidery. Historian Lucy Adlington will showcase marvellous original fashions for sport and dancing, and amuse you with hilarious readings from Austen’s novels.
This event is being kindly sponsored by the Apex Hotel Bath.

Tickets £18

Regency Church Service

11:30 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Bath Abbey, Abbey Churchyard, BA1 1LY

A service of Sung Eucharist that will be specially themed to encompass some Regency church elements and music.
Regency costume very welcome but not mandatory.

Free Event - donations to Bath Abbey welcome

Regency Picnic

12 noon - 15:00

Venue: Sydney Gardens, Sydney Place, Bathwick, BA2 4DB

Join other Austen-lovers for an informal bring-your-own picnic in the beautiful surroundings of Sydney Gardens. Promenade along paths Jane Austen herself would have walked and discuss any scandalous antics of the previous evening's entertainment.
(weather permitting event)

Free Event 

The Fee Tail and Female Fury in Austen's Legal World

13:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Brunswick Room, Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW

Unravel the legal knots in Austen's drawing rooms! Was Jane Austen simply penning romantic fairytales, or was she subtly wielding the sharp quill of a proto-feminist legal mind?
Join Nicola McNulty for a fascinating exploration into the oppressive laws governing women's property rights in Georgian and Regency England. Discover how Austen, with her intelligent grasp of intricate legal concepts like the dreaded fee tail, cleverly embedded a quiet but powerful battle cry for women's rights within the fabric of her most beloved novels.

Tickets £13

Austen's Lost & Found - theatrical walking tour

13.30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30 (duration 1 hour each)

Meet: At the top of Gravel Walk opposite No1 Royal Crescent, BA1 2LW

The Natural Theatre Company returns with their hilarious immersive walking tour show Lost & Found. Another lost Jane Austen novel has been unearthed in Bath, revealing more recognisable plotlines, familiar characters and just a little bit of nonsense. Immerse yourself in wooing, weeping and wagers as we wander around Bath, and watch this joyful story come to life around you!

Tickets £19

250 Years of Austen in Bath - Embroidery workshop

14:00 (duration 2 hours)

Venue: Percy Community Centre, New King St, Bath BA1 2BN

Celebrate 250 years of Jane Austen’s birth at this special embroidery workshop! Learn traditional techniques to stitch a beautiful Royal Crescent hoop design, commemorating the Jane Austen Festival and the charm of Bath’s iconic architecture.

All materials included, along with expert instruction from Abigail Rose and Sophie Andrews of Laughing With Lizzie. Beginners are welcome, and light refreshments will be served.

Tickets £62 from buytickets.at/abigailrosecreative

Mr Tilney's Assembly

14:00 (duration 3hrs 30mins)

Venue: Banqueting Room, Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW

Join us in the spectacular Banqueting Room of Bath's historic Guildhall for Regency dancing, called by Liz Bartlett of the Jane Austen Dancers. Live music will be provided by Beau's Band. There will be sweet treats, punch and tea on offer throughout this event.
You are welcome to reference our Mr Tilney theme by including your finest muslin in your outfit for this event. Dances will be a mixture of those from the other first weekend balls.
Regency costume is mandatory for this event

Tickets £80

'In want of a wife': Miss Lister of Shibden Hall and her five-million-words of Regency life and desire for a wife.

14:30 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Brunswick Room, Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW

Over 200 miles away, another trailblazer of the Regency era, Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Halifax was busy managing her estate, travelling, climbing mountains and having relationships with other women. Whilst Anne Lister never published, she wrote over five million words detailing her life in Georgian England and was a prolific reader.

Join historian and author Angela Clare as she shares the story of Anne Lister. Find out if Lister read Austen, what she made of Bath when she visited in 1813 and if she ever got her happy romantic ending, albeit a very different one from Austen's novels. In Anne Lister’s case, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single [wo]man in need of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'.

Tickets £16

Pleasure Gardens - Wristband collection

15:00 - 18:00 (duration 3hrs)

Venue: Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW

Wristbands for the Pleasure Gardens event can be picked up downstairs in Bath Guildhall between 15:00 and 18:00 on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September. Please ask a Jane Austen Festival steward at the venue for details.

Pleasure Gardens - Wristband Collection

Rummaging through the Reticule

16:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

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

What did Jane and her characters keep in their reticules? All will be revealed when the contents of this C18th handbag are spilt in the privacy of a Regency drawing room.
Jane Tapley's talk is followed by refreshments, a traditional cream tea - scones, jam and cream and, of course, tea.

Tickets £18

Pleasure Gardens

19:15/19:30/19:45 - 22:00 (entrance times will be staggered)

Venue: Parade Gardens, Grand Parade, Bath BA2 4DF

Don your finest Regency costume and join the Jane Austen Festival at dusk in Parade Gardens, as we recreate a Georgian Pleasure Gardens. The festivities include sweet treats, drinks, circus performers and entertainment with musical interludes. This one-off event will celebrate our favourite author's 250th birthday in an extra special immersive way!
Please note that this is a Regency costume mandatory event.

Participants for this event will be required to wear wristbands to allow swift entry into the event - Wristband Collection points: Guildhall - Friday 12th 10:00 - 18:00 / Saturday 13th 15:00 - 18:00 / Sunday 14th 15:00 - 18:00

Tickets £45 - this will be a wristband event, you must collect your wristbands before arriving at the event 

*All ticket prices include transaction processing fee