Jane Austen’s 250th birthday was celebrated in style by the events of the 16th Jane Austen Regency Week held in Alton, Chawton and Selborne.

Pat Lerew, of organisers the Alton Jane Austen Group, reckoned this year’s festival - which ran from June 20 to 29 - was “the biggest and the best” because it was part of the year of anniversary celebrations.

After a Regency Welcome Event at the Alton House Hotel on the evening of June 20, the action began with Regency Day on June 21, which finished with a sell-out Summer Ball in baking heat.

Many people took the opportunity to step outside the Alton Assembly Rooms venue during the evening for some fresh air and to visit a new sculpture of Jane Austen.

Pat added: “The following Saturday we had another sell-out dancing event, which was a Country Dance, also at the Assembly Rooms - not such a formal event as the Ball, but more the sort of event which Jane would have enjoyed in the country houses of the area of Hampshire where she grew up.

“In between the two weekends, our hundreds of visitors from all over the world and the UK, and many locals, enjoyed visits to Chawton House, Jane Austen's House, Gilbert White's House, Wyards Farmhouse, St Lawrence Church, Alton Town Hall, the Allen Gallery and Alton Library, as well as the shops, cafés, restaurants and hotels in Alton.

“Our final event was a wonderful Regency Choral Evensong, led by the renowned St Lawrence Choir - all dressed in Regency costume - at the church on Sunday evening.”

Planning for the 2026 Jane Austen Regency Week, which will run from June 19 to 28, has begun. Tickets for the Jane Austen Birthday Ball on January 17 will be released soon. The Summer Ball will be on June 20 and the Country Dance on June 27.