Joanna Starnes, Rachel Knowles and Sophie Andrews in the Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Costumed Promenade, Bath (2014)
A step back in time
On Saturday, Bath stepped back in time to its Georgian heyday. The streets were full of Jane Austen enthusiasts dressed up in Regency costume for the Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Costumed Promenade.
Here's Andrew's video of the parade.
I had three photographers for the day: my husband Andrew, his brother Stephen and our youngest daughter Mirabelle. Here are some of their lovely photos.
The Jane Austen Festival Promenade (2014) Photo © Stephen Knowles
The Jane Austen Festival Promenade (2014) Photo © Stephen Knowles
A new world record!
We met in the beautiful Georgian Assembly Rooms, where we successfully set a new world record for the most people dressed up in Regency costume in one place: 550! And that could have been more as people were still arriving after the official count as a rugby match and a university open day also taking place on Saturday had caused more than a few Austenites to be delayed by traffic.
Rachel outside the Assembly Rooms, Bath. Photo © Mirabelle Knowles (2014)
Regency Bath
Soldiers leading the Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath (2014). Photo © Stephen Knowles
The promenade was led by a dashing group of redcoats and staff from the Jane Austen Centre. We paraded through much of the Georgian city including the very fashionable Circus, where the painter Thomas Gainsborough and the Earl of Chatham once lived, and down Milsom Street, where Regency ladies would have visited the circulating library and gone shopping.
Soldiers leading the front of the Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath (2014)
Parading around the Circus in the Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath (2014) Photo © Mirabelle Knowles
The atmosphere was amazing. We were all joined together by our love of the Regency period and it was great to make new friends as we walked in the footsteps of Jane Austen, who lived in Bath for several years and set parts of two of her novels there—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
Meeting Mr Wickham
An extra special moment for me was meeting the charming Adrian Lukis alias Mr Wickham from the superlative 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Rachel meeting Adrian Lukis, better known as Mr Wickham (2014). Photo © Mirabelle Knowles
Photographs in the park
The promenade ended in the Parade Gardens alongside the River Avon—a beautiful setting for a picnic and photographs.
A Regency picnic in the park in the Parade Gardens at the Jane Austen Festival, Bath (2014) Photo © Stephen Knowles
In the Parade Gardens at the Jane Austen Festival, Bath (2014)
Silhouettes and milliners
The Roving Artist at work at the Jane Austen Festival, Bath (2014)
After the promenade, I visited the Festival Fayre in the Guildhall where I had my silhouette cut out by the amazing Charles Burns – The Roving Artist.
Yet more photographs
The Jane Austen Festival Grand Regency Promenade, Bath (2014) Photo © Stephen Knowles
I thoroughly enjoyed wearing my Regency costume for the first time and am looking forward to meeting up with everyone again next year.
Rachel with Natalie Garbett (left) who made my beautiful Regency costume. Photo © Stephen Knowles (2014)
Rachel Knowles writes faith-based Regency romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew, who co-writes this blog.
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More photographs of the Jane Austen Festival: Andrew's photos and Mirabelle's photos.
Photographs © Mirabelle Knowles and Stephen Knowles as stated. All other photographs © Andrew Knowles and RegencyHistory.net.
