Tuesday 16th September 2025

Jane Austen's Portrait - with Melissa Little

12 noon (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, BA1 2HN

This talk charts the extensive research made by forensic artist portrait painter, Melissa Dring, when commissioned to produce a new likeness of Jane Austen in 2001. Chasing all possible clues, not only the Austen family look, but such intimate details as Jane’s underwear, were equally crucial to the final lifelike image. This, of course, also had to convey something of Jane’s character and reveal her sparkling wit and wisdom…Did Melissa succeed? Judge for yourselves!

Tickets £13

Sew Chatty

12 noon (duration 2 hours)

Venue: The Roseate Villa, Henrietta Road, Bath, BA2 6LX

Bring along your sewing, last-minute hemming, embroidery, or latest bonnet in need of trimming to The Roseate Villa, Henrietta Road, Bath for a midday session of sewing, chatting and sharing sewing advice (or sewing woes!) with other like-minded Austen friends.

Free Event - please reserve your place

Sense and Insensibility - A Murder Mystery

12 noon (duration 3 hours)

Venue: Abbey Hotel, North Parade, BA1 1LF

John Willoughby's body is found murdered in the grounds of Barton Park in Devon. He was a ruthless, callous man only interested in himself and quite prepared to use people to get what he wanted. But who killed him - was it Marianne Dashwood whom he had jilted, or Colonel Brandon whose ward, Eliza Williams he had seduced and abandoned or Eliza herself?
Elinor Dashwood acts as investigator to get to the bottom of this mystery and with the help of the lunch guests solves the murder and brings the killer to justice… 

Tickets £53

Croquet Game

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

"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

Births, Marriages and Deaths

14:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, BA1 2HN

This lively presentation will explore births, marriages and deaths in the Regency era, seen through the prism of Jane Austen’s life and works. This account of how Jane came into this world, and left it, poses the question: What would her legacy have been if either she or her sister Cassandra had married?

Tickets £13

What About the Workers? - walking tour

14:00 (duration 2hrs 15mins)

Meet: Outside the main door of Bath Abbey, Abbey Churchyard, BA1 1LY

It is often said that Jane Austen hardly ever mentions the servants in her novels and had little concern with their daily lives. Yet Jane’s original readers would have understood that servants were always there in the background and their role was determined by the income and social status of her characters – just as it was for the Austen family themselves.
In fact, Bath in Jane Austen’s day depended entirely on the entrepreneurial working residents to provide every comfort and commodity for the fashionable visitors, not just domestic servants, but all sorts of workers from ladies maid's to lodging house keepers, milliners to market gardeners, sedan chairmen to coalmen.
Our walk will explore what was on offer, as well as the servants and services that the Austen family might themselves have relied upon during their time in Bath, and how Jane reflected this in her novels.

Tickets £13

Assembly and Diversity in Jane Austen’s Bath

16:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, BA1 2HN

Jane Austen’s Bath was a city of spectacle, sociability, and surprising diversity. This talk, from Dr Tim Moore, explores the vibrant world of Georgian Bath and the radical inclusivity of its world-famous assemblies. From fashionable elites to cross-dressing non-conformists, and from plantation owners to abolitionists and people of colour, discover the melting pot of identity that made up Georgian Bath, and how it shaped the world that Austen knew and wrote about.

Tickets £13

Potted Pride & Prejudice - theatrical

17:30 & 20:30 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: The Mission Theatre, 32 Corn St, Bath BA1 1UF

A fast-paced 'Potted' adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. All the funny bits in Austen's best-loved romantic comedy and all the beloved characters played by four super-talented actors. Think the whole story can’t be told in 55 minutes, using Austen’s own words? Think again!
“Incredibly funny but also retaining all the charm of Austen” - After rave reviews from Worthing and Chichester audiences, don’t miss this at the Bath Jane Austen Festival.

Tickets £18

Miss Austen Investigates - book talk

18:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: No. 1 Royal Crescent, Bath BA1 2LR

A talk by author Jessica Bull on her book series, Miss Austen Investigates.
From P.D. James to Jessica Bull, Jane Austen’s classic novels have influenced generations of crime fiction writers. In this talk, you’ll hear more about the elements of mystery in Austen’s own novels, as well as the true crimes which touched her life and inspired the Miss Austen Investigates series.

Tickets: £12.00 for the talk or £24.00 for the talk and a signed, hardback copy of Miss Austen Investigates: A Fortune Most Fatal (RRP £16.99)

Regency Games Evening

18:00 & 20:00 (duration 2 hours each)

Venue: The Bath Gin Bar, 2-3 Queen St, BA1 1HE

Jane Austen was known to be particularly adept at both cup & ball, and spillikins. Enjoy an evening or late-night session trying your skills (or luck) at these, as well as lottery tickets, whist, hazard and other Regency-era games, provided by John White of Select Society.

For 2025 fortunes will be gained or lost in the delicious venue of the Bath Distillery Gin Bar; here you will meet the talented mixologists who have created the cocktails of ‘Gin’ Austen, which are a fabulous way to explore the elegance and subtlety of their own gin.

Tickets £12

*All ticket prices include transaction processing fee