Latest news with #JaneAustenFestival
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Inside Bath's Regency revival
On a recent trip to London, with a few days to explore the British countryside, we choose Bath, for several reasons. It's the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, a celebration currently lighting up the city. Bath is easily accessible from London, offers wonderful hotels (refreshingly affordable), and is a beautiful Georgian town — a UNESCO World Heritage Site that's largely walkable, and full of museums, parks, and excellent food and drink. Soaking in Austen The city is now abuzz with Austen. You can indulge as much or as little as you like — from grand themed balls and the Jane Austen Festival (including a costumed promenade for those eager to stroll in full Regency attire) to the Jane Austen Centre, where visitors can learn about her life in Bath. We join a walking tour with the Strictly Jane Austen Tours company, led by the delightful, red-haired Theresa, dressed head-to-toe in Regency costume. She weaves history with scandal, gossip, and sharp social commentary — entertaining and highly recommended. Afterwards, we enjoy a Jane Austen-themed afternoon tea at The Bath Priory, one of the city's loveliest hotels. And of course, we visit the Roman Baths (now a world-class museum) — though, for health reasons, bathing is no longer allowed. Instead, you can 'take the waters' at one of the city's central hotels, which tap into the hot springs, or visit the modern Thermae Bath Spa nearby. Right next door, the historic Pump Room is a must-visit. Once the place to see and be seen by high society, it still serves afternoon tea and is steeped in atmosphere. You can also stop by the Bath Bun Tea Shoppe, where servers in period costume offer the sweet buns Austen adored. One of my favourite spots in Bath is along the River Avon, which winds through the city just below Pulteney Bridge, one of the few bridges in the world with shops built on it. Just beneath lies a horseshoe-shaped weir, a magical place to sit with a local cider and while away the time. Where to stay in Bath We stayed at The Bath Priory, a row of elegant Georgian townhouses in honey-coloured stone set within four acres of gardens. A short stroll from the city centre through Royal Victoria Park, it's a peaceful, luxurious retreat. Built as a private home in 1835 on land owned by Bath Abbey's Priory, the hotel blends Gothic elegance with comfort — plush sofas, garden views, period furniture, and quiet refinement. The bedrooms and suites are large, with many overlooking the gardens. In the heat of the summer, they offer a comfortable sanctuary. Their Regency Afternoon Tea is inspired by historic recipes such as Rout cakes and lavender shortbread, and also features savoury bites like sausage rolls and finger sandwiches. Dining options include a 3 AA Rosette fine-dining restaurant, and a relaxed pantry and terrace. (I love steak and fries, and the truffle and Parmesan fries here are to die for.) The L'Occitane spa — the only one of its kind in the U.K. — offers herbarium-inspired rituals, heated indoor and outdoor pools, steam rooms, and treatments. Going beyond books The city is a postcard of perfectly preserved Georgian England, with wobbly cobbled streets, graceful crescents, and elegant squares. If you're a Bridgerton fan, you'll recognise many filming locations: Modiste's seamstress shop (a deli in real life), the Royal Crescent (the Featherington home), and Bath Street with its stately colonnades. All six of Austen's novels mention Bath and two of them, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are set here. For those less inclined to read Austen, there are several excellent film and TV adaptations they can tune into. Austen, the unmarried daughter of a clergyman, wrote at the turn of the 19th century. Her personal struggle for independence, pointed social satire, and forward-thinking views on slavery — a subject tied to Bath's wealth — shine through in her fiction. Her work remains timeless: witty, sharp, and rich with commentary on class, gender, and marriage. Though she lived in Bath for only five years, the city's scandals and social shallowness fed her cynicism and sharpened her pen. Austen's novels gained popularity only after her death at 41. Today, she commands a global fanbase. Beyond the bonnet Gabrielle Malcolm, creative director of Strictly Jane Austen Company, on bringing the novelist's world to life What is the Strictly Jane Austen company all about? We're a Bath-based experience company offering immersive and eclectic encounters with the Regency period, Jane Austen's works, and her cultural impact. Was Austen a feminist? In many ways, yes. She negotiated her own publishing contracts, which was quite bold for a woman then. She stayed outside the mainstream literary circles, but represented herself fearlessly. Why is Austen still so celebrated? Her characterisation is superb — vivid, relatable, and relevant. She wasn't writing 'historical romance', but contemporary social satire. Her sharp irony, wit, and ability to bring society to life make her resonate even today. Readers think of her as 'Jane', someone they could be friends with. Are her books more popular now? Absolutely. While they had periods of obscurity in the 19th century, the 20th and 21st centuries have seen a renewed fascination, especially through modern retellings. Does Bridgerton help or hinder Austen's legacy? It helps! Julia Quinn's novels wouldn't exist without Austen. Bridgerton plays with Regency tropes — a bit satirical, a bit fun, with a modern twist. It keeps the period alive for new audiences. And Bridget Jones? A clear modern parody of Pride and Prejudice. Helen Fielding even kept the name Darcy. Casting Colin Firth — who also played Darcy in the BBC adaptation — was genius. Fielding has openly said she 'ripped off' Austen, and did it brilliantly. Why does Bath appear so often in Austen's work? Bath was the marriage market of its day, a beautiful spa town with a darker side of gambling, gossip, and social climbing. Austen captured both its superficial glamour and darker reality. Bath almost becomes a character in itself — what Angela Carter called 'the skull beneath the skin.' The writer, consultant, and entrepreneur's latest venture is bespoke small group tours, which she curates and accompanies.
Sydney Morning Herald
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Jane Austen Society of Australia is preparing to celebrate the author's 250th anniversary
'One cannot have too large a party,' Mr Weston tells Emma Woodhouse in Emma , and Jane Austen societies around the world are certainly taking his dictum to heart. That's because this year marks the 250th anniversary of the novelist's birth and fans everywhere, it seems, are preparing bonnets, balls and book-fests in the run-up to December 16. A Regency costume parade in the UK's Bath, part of the city's annual Jane Austen Festival. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Although Austen's books were popular during her lifetime and have proved even more so since her death, no one thought to create a Jane Austen society until 1940. This was when Englishwoman Dorothy Darnell – horrified at the thought of the cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where Austen had lived from 1809 until shortly before her death in 1817 at age 41, might be destroyed – established a society to raise funds to preserve it. Societies have since proliferated like blushes at a Regency ball, and there are now groups dedicated to the author in at least 18 countries, including Pakistan, Japan, Brazil, Italy and Australia, where more than 1000 people are members. Historian Susannah Fullerton, a passionate Austen devotee who has written four books about the author, describes her as a 'genius' whose work has never dated, adding, 'She knew what made people tick.' She's president of the Sydney-based Jane Austen Society of Australia (JASA), the largest literary society in the country. Its members debate aspects of Austen's novels, hear guest speakers and socialise over afternoon tea. There's no aspect of the author's life and work that isn't worthy of discussion, she says: 'At one event, we had an amazing chat about Jane Austen's use of dashes in her fiction!' The Jane Austen Society of Melbourne assembles every two months at the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria in Ashburton. At a recent meeting, one member gave a presentation about her Austen-flavoured visit to the UK. The other attendees – 24 women and one man – listened attentively. Later, over tea and cake, conversation turned to the dilemma of finding the perfect costume for 'Jane Fest' – the society's end-of-year event, featuring a talk and special afternoon tea – followed by discussion of the latest Austen-themed books and screen adaptations (such as the new BBC production Miss Austen , based on the bestselling 2020 novel by Gill Hornby and starring Keeley Hawes and Patsy Ferran). Photographs from small- and big-screen adaptations filled the room, including that image of Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerging from the lake at Pemberley in the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries (still the finest adaptation of Austen's most popular novel, everyone agreed). Loading Meanwhile, JASA is planning a special service at St James' Church on Sydney's King Street on August 3 and a weekend conference in Canberra at the end of October, which will include presentations by local and international experts. In the UK, the year began with a Pride and Prejudice festival at Chawton, with Austen's other novels celebrated during the year. Bath, a setting for many of them, will host its annual September festival. So what would Austen herself make of all this fuss? The author never sought recognition for her work, with four of her novels published anonymously in her lifetime. Given her own love of reading, though, perhaps it's safe to assume she would've been chuffed. For as she says, through much-loved Austen beau Henry Tilney in her fifth novel, Northanger Abbey : 'The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.' To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.
Business Journals
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Journals
Jane Austen Festival at Heritage Village marks author's 250th birthday
Cincinnati's inaugural Jane Austen Festival sashays into town and promises full immersion into life in the late 1700s and 1800s. The event takes place June 28-29 at the Heritage Village Museum at Sharon Woods.
