Jane Austen Festival in Bath - Grand Regency Costumed Promenade 2024
Over 1,000 people dressed up Regency style
“What’s going on?”
“Where are they from?”
“Is this a Jane Austen thing?”
Just some of the questions we heard from tourists in Bath, on Saturday 14 September 2024. Many were surprised when a parade of over 1,000 people came through the town, dressed in Regency costumes.
The Grand Regency Costumed Promenade (its official title) is the spectacular opening event of the annual Jane Austen Festival. It takes place in the Georgian city of Bath, where Jane lived for a time, and set scenes from some of her novels.
The festival began in 2001 and in 2009 it set a record for the number of people dressed in Regency attire - 409 according to the Guiness World Records website.
We first attended in 2014, when they hoped to set a new record of 550 in costume. Success was claimed, but as I write this, the Guiness World Records site still shows the 2009 record.
It probably doesn’t matter because those numbers were eclipsed this year.
“How many are you expecting?” we asked a steward as I picked up my wristband.
“About 1,000.”
The final tally, I learned from a steward at the end of the promenade, was nearer 1,300.
The Bridgerton factor
Reenactment groups tell us that Bridgerton, on Netflix, has attracted a lot of people to the world of Regency costume. The influence of the show is evident in some of the attire on display during the promenade.
This throws up the question of historical accuracy. Bridgerton is presented as a fantasy world, inspired by—but not true to—the world Jane Austen knew.
The aim of the promenade is to have fun with other people. Some love the history. Others love dressing up. Some of those inspired by Bridgerton will develop a love for the Regency world, and will strive to look more authentic for the period.
In truth, I doubt any costume is entirely historically accurate. There’s always a compromise to modern convenience and practicality. To judge by the number of mobile phones on display, you could be forgiven for thinking they are a well-known Regency accessory!
A local walk with a global crowd
The Grand Regency Costumed Promenade always draws a crowd. Not just the surprised tourists and bemused shoppers encountered along the way, but also participants from around the world.
This year I chatted with promenaders from the USA and Germany, as well as a young lady who is a volunteer guide on the SS Great Britain in Bristol. I was also able to meet in person author Brenda S Cox whom Andrew interviewed for our YouTube channel about her book, Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England.
It was also special to meet up with some of those I met for the first time 10 years ago, on my first promenade—my walking companions, Alison and Chris Day, and the most ardent Jane Austen fan I know, Sophie Andrews, who was running a stall in the Assembly Rooms.
Yes, you can dress up in Regency costume anywhere, and there are many Jane Austen societies around the globe. But to walk the glowing streets of Bath, looked down upon by the same buildings that once watched Jane—that’s magic you can’t find anywhere else.
However, the promenade is less about words and more about the spectacle. So here are some glimpses into the crowds that strolled the streets with us this year.
Our video is 10 minutes long and includes many of those who took part. Can you spot someone you know?
Read about earlier Grand Regency Costumed Promenades:
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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