Upcoming Virtual Events: Sense and Sensibility Festival at Jane Austen's House
- Delicia Johnson
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England will be hosting their Sense and Sensibility festival from May 1-11. Fortunately for those of us outside of the UK some of the festival events will be virtual! Jane Austen's House has graciously allowed us to recap these virtual events for our readers. Whether you are unable to attend or just want a review of the lively discussions and scholarly research that are sure to take place be sure to check back on our blog! We hope these events prepare you for JASP 2025.
1. Virtual 'Sense and Sensibility' Tour
Date and Time: Monday, May 5, 2025 8-9 PM GMT/3-4 PM EDT
Cost: £7 (All proceeds goes towards the upkeep of the museum.)
Registration: Book your tickets here.
This virtual tour will use both the Jane Austen's House collection and the House itself to explore and celebrate Sense and Sensibility. Attendees will have the opportunity to see the rooms where Sense and Sensibility was revised and edited. You are sure to understand the novel better as you move from room to room. Items in the collection will also bring the story to life. The tour will finish with a close-up virtual look at one of the first editions of Sense and Sensibility.
2. Virtual Book Club: Sense and Sensibility
Date and Time: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 7-8 PM GMT/2-3 PM EDT
Cost: £6.50 (All proceeds goes towards the upkeep of the museum.)
Registration: Book your tickets here.
The House's popular virtual book club series continues with Sense and Sensibility. Discuss your thoughts and favorite bits with Austen fans from all over the world! Grab a cup of tea (or other beverage of choice) as you discuss and debate the themes and characters of Austen's first published novel. What do you think of the romantic pairings? Are you sympathetic towards Lucy Steele? Do you think Willoughby could've been reformed? Who is your least favorite character, and why is it Fanny Dashwood? Being amongst other passionate readers will help you strengthen and challenge your own arguments and thoughts about Sense and Sensibility. What better way to prepare for further discussion at JASP 2025!
If you've never attended the House's virtual books clubs or want a refresher, read our past recaps of the Teenage Writings and Lady Susan.
3. Virtual Talk: Regency Textiles and Fashion
Date and Time: Thursday, May 8, 2025 8-9 PM GMT/3-4 PM EDT
Cost: £7 or £12 for both Regency Dress talks (All proceeds goes towards the upkeep of the museum.)
Registration: Book tickets here.
In this virtual talk curator and historian of textiles, dress and design Amber Butchart will explore Regency textiles and dress. Take a virtual tour around the world to learn how and where the fabrics that clothed Regency bodies and houses were produced and used. Amber will also discuss what Jane Austen and her characters would have worn to go sea bathing.
Perhaps you'll find some inspirtation for your JASP 2025 ball attire!
3. Virtual Talk: "But He Talked Of Nothing But Flannel Waistcoats"
Date and Time: Saturday, May 10, 2025 8-9 PM GMT/3-4 PM EDT
Cost: £7 or £12 for both Regency Dress talks (All proceeds goes towards the upkeep of the musuem.)
Registration: Book tickets here.
"But he talked of nothing of flannel waistcoats," said Marianne, "and with me a flannel waistcoat is invariably connected with aches, cramps, rheumatisms, and every species of ailment that can afflict the old and feeble."
Sense and Sensibility, Volume I, Chapter 8
Hilary Davidson, fashion historian and author of the books Dress in the Age of Jane Austen (2019, Yale University Press) and Jane Austen's Wardrobe (2023, Yale University Press), will explore Colonel Brandon's choice of undergarments in the context of Jane Austen's society. Woollen flannel garments in the form of waistcoats, undershirts, drawers and petticoats were part of British dressing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While unromantic and despised by Marianne, these garments protected their wearers from illness and kept them warm.
As part of Jane Austen & Co.'s series 'Staying Home with Jane Austen', Hilary Davidson gave the talk 'Dressing With Jane Austen'. She discussed the lives and dress of the middle-class British gentry during the long Regency period through the lens of Jane Austen's life and writings.
Don't forget to register for JASP 2025, June 19-22 in historic New Bern, NC.
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