Become a Friend of the Jane Austen Festival

For a small annual fee of $20 per person you will receive an advance mailing of the Festival Programme and priority booking for Jane Austen Festival Australia & Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy events. You will also know that your fee helps support the continuation of this wonderful festival. As a friend you will be able to participate in members-only events during the festival, including close-up costume examinations.

Membership runs annually from 1st January to 31st December, however for those joining anytime in 2009 membership will run to 31 December 2010. Please post or email us a passport sized photo for your membership card.

Requesting your company ... for an assembly 200 years ago

Dear friends,

After three amazing days of Victorian-era dance, costume and
entertainment, and making new interstate and overseas friends, we are
about to wind back the clock to the Regency era.

Our annual Pride & Prejudice ball will be held at St. John's Church
Hall, Reid, 7:30 to 11:30pm, on Saturday 17 October - just $16 online
at http://www.earthlydelights.com.au or $20 at door (children under 15
half price), includes refreshments and potluck supper.

It will be like walking into a Jane Austen novel ...

As the ball will be a big night, there will be no Sunday dance class
the next day, but the following Sunday 23 October we will start a few
weeks of dances from a broad 450-year period building up to our 21
November "Time Travellers' Ball".

Looking forward to meeting you at the ball,

Aylwen Garden

Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy
http://www.earthlydelights.com.au
Jane Austen Festival Australia
http://www.janeaustenfestival.com.au

Announcement: this rare and complete Regency-era evening ensemble will be on display during the 2010 Jane Austen Festival of Australia

It is a rarity to find a set of matching period accessories, but to have them accompanied by their original outfit, is an amazing find!

This ensemble reportedly comes from the estate of Ms. Eliza Fox of Osmaston Hall in Derbyshire, UK.

The canary yellow, trained ball dress, is fashioned from luminous and heavy silk, and decorated with metallic copper threads in a corded, braid-like trim. The high Empire-waist is decorated with a band of ruffled canary silk, and also a band of the chord trim. There is a shimmering medallion of jewels to the center of the neckline, which is accented by further ruffled silk.

The dainty, delicate sleeves and low neckline create the typical look of the Regency period.

The dress is fully lined in gauze and cotton and fastens with hook and eyes to the back, along with some muslin ties.

The quality construction, and hand sewing, is yet another wonder!

The ball shoes, are made from the same shade of canary silk as the dress and purse/reticule, and are decorated with the copper chord trim in a large gathered medallion. They are a lovely, classic pair Regency shoes, with a carved wooden "Louis"-style hard heel, ribbon ties, and kid leather lining.

The drawstring evening reticule is decorated with the braided trim, and fully lined in gauze. It too, is also fully hand sewn.

The complete set is a true treasure, has an astounding beauty and romance that should never be forgotten and always admired.

Draft Program for Jane Austen Festival 2010

Please note: the program is still to be confirmed, see the Jane Austen Festival Australia Website for more information and to see the full list of presenters and topics.
Tickets go on sale from November 1, 2009 for FRIENDS OF JANE AUSTEN FESTIVAL.
General sales commence on December 1, 2009.
To become a Friend of the Jane Austen Festival Australia click here.

"Regency" Exhibition of Costumes, Prints & Rare Books
Explore the fashions of Jane Austen's lifetime, with a focus on English women's style during the early 19th century. The charm and grace of this period is shown in fashion, prints and rare books. This ticket gives you access to the exhibition for the duration of the festival, so feel free to come back again.

Jane Austen Festival Get Together
An ideal opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones over a glass of wine and light refreshments.[limited tickets]

Regency Lady's Day
A special day for those interested in regency sewing and craft. Hand sewing, bonnet making, cooking, hair styles, crafts and fashion overviews. [limited tickets]

Jane Austen Study Day
Jane Austen offers tremendous insights into the larger historical and social world that surrounded her apparently enclosed fictions. Participate in round-table discussions, listen to selected readings from our feature-novel, Sense and Sensibility, and learn more about her novels from a fine selection of Australia's Jane Austen scholars. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea provided. [limited tickets]

Formal Regency Dinner & Concert
Formal regency dining experience. Vegetarian option available, inform bookings office if required. Guest Speaker followed by "Jane Austen's Music" concert and costumed regency dance display. [limited tickets]

Learn to Dance like Jane Austen
If you plan to attend the ball, then this is just for you! Some knowledge of the dances will make it easier for you to join in at the ball. Includes morning tea and lunch.
Beginners - Learn to dance like Jane Austen workshop for beginners, flat shoes advisable.
Intermediate - Learn to dance like Jane Austen workshop for those who have ‘had a go’ before.

An Afternoon Soiree with the Austens
Cards and other parlour games, music and afternoon tea - China tea, scones, preserves and delicious cake. Regency costume welcome.[limited tickets]

Jane Austen Ball
A special regency dance in the wonderful setting of St John's Church Hall. Regency-era desserts and refreshments will be served - labelled contributions welcome. Live band playing Regency-era music with a dancing master calling. Entertainments in the breaks.[limited tickets]

Regency Picnic & Promenade
Please join us for a lovely afternoon in the world of Jane Austen beside Lake Burley Griffin, where we shall be holding a picnic, followed by a promenade around the lake to the Farewell Dance venue. Our guests are invited to bring their own period-style picnic lunch and to make their picnic site look as period as possible (Please note that the event is not a potluck.)

Farewell English Country Dance
[limited tickets]

Monday 19 April
- Privately booked close-up examination of antique costumes.
- Bus Tour of Canberra, Yass and Goulburn visiting historical homes and collections dating to the Regency Era.

Exhibition of Regency Costumes, Prints and Books

Clothing to be on display so far:

1. Black silk spencer, c.1810
2. Short cream mitts c. 1810
3. Man's linen shirt, c.1800
4. Roller-printed floral cotton bodice top (skirt missing), c.1820
5. Cotton bib-front daydress, c.1810
6. Silk bib-front daydress, c.1810
7. White muslin daydress, c.1820
8. Infant's nightgown, c.1820
9. Silk Ballgown with Pelerine, c.1830
10. Men's hand embroidered polychrome floral waistcoat, c.1780
11. Lady's leather dance slippers, c. 1830
12. Embroidered silk organza shawl, whitework, extremely fine and sheer, c. 1800
13. Blue chambray cotton girls round gown with ornate sleeves, c.1820
14. Corded stays (regency corset) c. 1830
    

The exhibition will run all festival, with costume researchers encouraged to book a time for up-close costume inspection for Monday 19 or Tuesday 20 April 2010.

We welcome loans of mannequins, dummies and display cases for the staging of this exhibition. Please phone Aylwen on 0409 817 623 if you can be of assistance. Click on picture for images of some of the collection.