Monday, March 18, 2013

Jane Austen Literary Festival

In Old Mandeville.
Old Mandeville will feel a lot like Olde England when the Jane Austen Literary Festival unveils its annual celebration of Regency style and literary sensibility March 9-10. The festival mixes books and bonnets, contests and conversation, lectures and laughs — and even includes a dance in period costume.

“We keep things fun, and that keeps people interested,” said Kerri Blache, who helped to found the event in 2008. “The panel discussions and talks about Austen’s era are quite interesting, but we also have events that appeal to anyone who likes to dress up in costume.”

Costumes are not required, but they do add an extra element to the Austen Festival. Blache estimates that in 2012 about 60 percent of festgoers wore Regency garb.

“You won’t see people dressed in recycled Carnival costumes,” Blache said. “A lot of research and hand-sewing goes into these costumes. The idea is to take a trip back in time, to get a feel for Jane Austen’s era.” (Read entire post.)
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2 comments:

Sassy Countess said...

This is wonderful. I was the only to dress up in the 1990's. Now, everyone is doing it!

julygirl said...

Good to know that a classy novelists like Jane is still appreciated in this day and age of murky literature.