ALTON will play host from next Saturday to the annual Jane Austen Regency Week.

Organised by Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this nine-day festival of events celebrating Jane and the Regency period, which runs from June 17-25, will take place in the market town of Alton – the place where Jane shopped, banked, collected and delivered post, visited her friends and caught the stagecoach to London – and the nearby village of Chawton, where she spent the last eight years of her life and produced six great novels.

This year’s festival is a particularly special one, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Jane’s death. It is also 10 years since the start of Regency Week and it has an impressive line-up of activities and events, including music from the period, talks, singing, walks, dancing, house and garden tours, embroidery workshops, cream teas, films, cricket, suppers, and a vintage fair.

Heralded this weekend by Chawton open gardens, Regency Week launches next Saturday (June 17) with Regency Day in Alton – a day full of historical delights such as people in costume, horse and carriage rides, a market, and a petting zoo. The celebrations continue with a dancing workshop and then into the evening with a costumed Regency Ball.

This will be followed on Sunday (June 18) with Chawton’s vintage fair, a cream tea and tour of the grounds at Chawton House Library led by head gardener Andrew Bentley, the Chawton guided walk, and ending with choral evensong at St Lawrence Church, Alton – the church where one of Jane’s brothers preached and several nieces and nephews were christened.

There are many more events to choose from throughout the week, including an embroidery workshop at Chawton House Library from June 20-22, a midsummer evening opening at Jane Austen’s House Museum on June 20, and tours, teas, talks and walks.

The festival’s finale on Sunday, June 25, will begin with the town’s annual Victorian cricket match on The Butts and end with a traditional Regency supper at the Alton House Hotel.

For a full run-down of all the events planned for this year’s Regency Week, pick an official free programme from Alton library, the town’s museums, and the Alton Herald office on Market Square.

To buy tickets, call the box office at Alton Community Centre on 01420 85057.