The annual festival, now the largest and longest-running of its kind, first took place in 2001 and has since grown to a 10-day programme drawing thousands of visitors from around the world
“One cannot have too large a party,” writes Jane Austen in Emma. But could she ever have predicted that more than 200 years later, balls held in her honour would be selling out in 15 minutes?
This year, the largest and longest-running Jane Austen festival, held in Bath, brings together more than 3,000 fans, or Janeites as they prefer to be called, to celebrate the life and legacy of the beloved author. From balls and cream teas to festival fayres and dance lessons, for 10 days the city transforms into a living homage to Austen’s world. But what keeps modern audiences so captivated by this imagined past?
A group of re-enactors enjoy afternoon tea at the Bath Bun
Elizabeth and Peter, a couple from London united by their shared love of Austen’s novels, have come down specifically to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the author’s birth. For Elizabeth, originally from Zimbabwe, Austen’s message of perseverance particularly resonates. “I grew up in a colonial era, it was difficult, but for me Austen’s novels helped me realise that everyone has a place in the world and that you do matter even if you’ve been told something different,” she says.
