The Jane Austen Festival 2026
This year was my first attempt at tackling a full festival, all be it 9 out of 10 days and I must admit I wasn't too sure what to expect, particularly during the week. I have come to the conclusion that I should tell you all about it. Before any festival engagement there is the inevitable amassing of equipment and project planning with the organising team to do and sometimes this takes place months in advance. Organisation is key, even if you are just the photographer for the Jane Austen Festival, trust me on this!
Friday 11th September
Day 1 and it brought with it a suitable sewing workshop, a brief glimpse into the festival fayre, an afternoon ball to mark the first dancing engagement of the week and an 1811 Sense & Sensibility themed ball as a prelude to the week's special event. The day serves perfectly as a warm up for me before the heavy engagements of the weekend where I have to be very fast in my work and extremely mobile.
Saturday 12th September
The largest of days, in every sense of the meaning, brought swaths of Regency wearing guests and onlookers alike. Estimated to be around 2,400 people in period costume it was the largest turn out in the festival's history and a sizeable improvement on last years numbers. The first Saturday always delights with the Promenade, this year starting from the Royal Crescent and ending at the Rec off of Great Pultney Street. From soldiers at the Holburne to Croquet games at the club to walking tours around Jane's Bath to a Harvest Ball in the Guildhall in the evening. Saturday is, from a humble photographer's point of view, the longest day, hard by its very nature but truly enjoyable.
Sunday 13th September
Projected music and gunshot alike with a dramatic duel between adversaries at the Holburne along with talks and workshops including a fencing workshop. The key event for me as the photographer, ironically, was the 'Switched off' 1815 'Emma' ball in the evening where all guests were kindly asked to place their mobile phones into a sealed pouch in order to fully immerse themselves into the world Austen knew. It was down to me to capture the evening's frivolities by hosting a drop in photography area where guests could have their photos taken with their friends and family.
Monday 14th September
Entering the week days now and uncharted territory for me. Where a great many of the workshops and talks take place, from learning how to bind books to learning about the clothing in Regency England to a talk on Country House dining by broadcaster and historian Dr Amy Boyington. We also celebrated a special birthday for the Jane Austen Dancers at 30 years of gracing the dance floor. The week days were starting strong but still facilitated a measure of calm that I do not tend to get during the weekend.
However I may have started the day off considerably earlier than was totally necessary in pursuit of an idea i'd had earlier in the year during one of the Summer Balls. I enlisted the assistance of a friend to aid me in a quest to recreate some key scenes that had been filmed in Bath from the 2022 adaptation of 'Persuasion'. Something like this requires early mornings before the masses of tourists emerge, thankfully I had a willing participant! This may form part of a larger idea but this is a working development so stay tuned!
Tuesday 15th September
The day presented a workshop exploring amiable scents and basket weaving which diverted significantly from my favourite theme of the day which gave us a distinctly gothic feel. A presentation by Maggie Barton ensued on how the Georgian's approached death which was truly fascinating. Broaching the subject of diversity in Jane's work was presented by Dr Tim Manningmore of the University of Oxford and insightful it was indeed. Towards the end of the day we had a very theatrical ghost walk once the sun went down and the lamps came on it became very immersive. One event I can highly recommend is the Regency Games night, this year held at the fantastic Bath Gin bar, which brought a whiff of Georgian England to the evening's frivolities.
Wednesday 16th September
Kick starting the day was a workshop on making waistcoats followed by several talks including one on Bath Abbey by Jackie Herring and workshops throughout the day including a dancing workshop and a fascinating talk by film & theatre costume designer Janette Haslam. There was a further ball in the evening, 'The Rose Ball', no points for guessing the colour theme here. Held at the stunning Pump Rooms, this ball gives me the unique chance to take photographs from the ball room's original musicians balcony above the dance floor, offering me a unrivalled perspective when trying to capture the dances.
Thursday 17th September
Today meant leaving the confines of the city of Bath and venturing out to the village of Lacock, where famously the 1995 adaptation of 'Pride & Prejudice' was partially filmed depicting Meryton. Wearing their red capes, as is fitting for the film, many of the attendees strode forth out around the village and the Abbey grounds. Now for me this is special as Lacock Abbey is the birthplace of my profession and the home of pioneer Henry Fox-Talbot so it was quite an honour to combined the historical part of my profession to my favourite festival in one swoop of the shutter. The evening also rendered a first for me, we experienced a pre-screening of the brand new 'Sense & Sensibility' adaptation with a Q&A session with Director Georgia Oakley and Screen Writer Diana Reid. It was a welcome change of pace and to engage in a matter that I know significantly more about in terms of production and the methodologies used to create a feature length.
Friday 18th September
Bookclubs and binding were on the cards along with more dance workshops and button making. One talk I had been waiting for all week was 'Crime & Punishment' presented by Mr White, a true gent and a larger than life man to listen to particularly on this subject matter having had first hand knowledge. I had the opportunity to indulge in a bit of book talk specifically on the subject of first editions with a talk from Jackie Herring who allowed me to handle her First Edition of 'Northanger Abbey' published in 1818.
The evening brought the first of the two evening Soiree's hosted at the Roman Baths. Every time I have the privilege of shooting in this place I am always taken aback on how immersive it feels and how oddly quiet it is in respect of the sounds of the city that surrounds it. The evening theme was Greek & Roman Gods and Goddesses which brought a delightful array of creative costumes.
Saturday 19th September
On my final day at the festival we began the day with a talk by Dr Zoe Screti covering the subject matter of Jane's sister Cassandra burning a significant portion of Jane's letters. We had two further talks by Professor John Mullan of University College London on 'Jealousy in Jane Austen' and 'Jane Austen's Sick Characters'. Finishing the day with the final soiree and ball of the festival the theme was to be Neptune Nautical, a must for those who heard the call of the sea in a previous life.
The festival now over, the post-production has now been completed and handed over I have now had a chance to take stock of the sheer enormity of the undertaking of photographing an event of this scale. Not for the faint hearted, I had walked over 42 miles in the pursuit of my work, produced over 16,500 images and put in over 160 hours of work. Was I utterly exhausted at the end of it? Yes. Would I change it? Not for the world! I have got to know so many interesting and inspiring people who attend the festival each year, without whom the festival would not be what it is. So I raise a glass to you all, you fine humans!
A final note must be made and dedicated to the staff and stewards that make the festival tick. They are a fantastic group and approach the task of keeping the ship afloat with all the alacrity that is due for Jane Austen. I like to think she'd be proud of you all!
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