Jane Austen Festival 2013!

This year was my second time attending the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, KY. You can read about and see photos of last year's festival here. My father and I drove down together again this year and enjoyed listening to my audiobook of Lady Susan by Jane Austen (such an interesting fun story!).

This year was extra special because I got to meet my dear blogging friend Miss Elizabeth Bennet who authors Elegance Of Fashion! We met by the Visitor's Center and set off to explore the festivities together!

First we went to the Naval Encampment to see the members of the HMS Acasta (a clever reenactment group). This gentleman, who acts as the First Lietenant explained about sextants to us and had a lot of interesting facts about life at sea in the 1700's-1800's. It was fascinating listening to him and meeting the other members of the ships crew.

The tents were all kitted out with many period items.

The ships Doctor with his two oldest daughters Miss Lucy and Miss Molly. I had the privileged of seeing The Doctor demonstrate fencing last year and was delighted to see his family this year too! 

On leaving the encampment area one of the crew tipped his hat to us in a gentlemanly manner.

It was delightful to see Miss Emily Waterman, The Doctor's fiancee, who has the most delightful outfits - probably my favorite outfits at the festival! She was accompanied by Lady Caroline Linnington, Dowager Baroness Cranston as they came to meet the naval officers.

Standing very near we were in a way to overhear Miss Waterman introduce The Doctor's brother sailors to Lady Caroline. In a very sweet piece of drama The Doctor took Miss Waterman's hand and kissed it!

On our way toward the Historic House my father captured this picturesque photo of The Commander of the HMS Acasta walking with his lady. They very much remind us of Admiral and Mrs. Croft from Persuasion, some of my dad's favorite JA characters! 

Miss Waterman introduces Lady Caroline to The Commander.

Another fun sight on the way to the Historic House was seeing a sedan chair with a lady inside! Very much reminded me and Miss Elizabeth of Mrs. Jamison in Cranford!

Historic Locust Grove is a lovely spot, perfect for this event! We enjoyed touring the house and enjoying the coolness inside.

Pretty upstairs bedroom.

See the gorgeous shawl on the bedpost? I love the fabric!

 Regency costumes were on display inside the house. The spencer shown here with its tassels reminded us of ones worn by Lucy Steele in Sense & Sensibility (1995) and Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion (1995). Very smart!

I spotted a reticule with a basket at the bottom. Miss Elizabeth remembered that I had admired this style of reticule last year. They are lovely!

Great room upstairs with costumes on display. Some of these fashions were featured in the Regency Style Show last year. Two or three of these are made using Saris from India!

The talented lady (sorry, your name escapes me!) who made most of the costumes on display and kindly answered our many questions about her gorgeous fashions!

Styles on display in my favorite bedroom with the toile curtains! The cape hung over the chair to the far left is shorter in the back than in the front, has a hood and is made of double layers of silk. It is exactly the same style as one worn by Marianne Dashwood in Sense & Sensiblity (1995) when she goes to Cleveland (the Palmer's home) and stands out in the rain viewing Coumb Magna and calling out for "Willoughby, Willoughby"! When it was described to us I immediately pictured those scenes!

A delightful handmade shawl!

The little parasol has a fold-able handle on it for easy packing.

Love the fabric on this late 1700's dress.

The colors on this outfit are just gorgeous!

Love all the intricate details!

A cape with a military style which was very fashionable in its day.

Love all the colors of the fashions and furniture together!

Love this bed in the young lady's room.

Captured this lovely photo of Miss Elizabeth by an upstairs window. Her outfit was so lovely!

While I was taking pictures of dresses and studying Regency fashions my father was drooling over these antique shield-back chairs! Also of interest, many of the floorboards in this large upstairs room run the length of the long room! Great craftsmanship! 

After visiting the Historic House, Miss Elizabeth and I enjoyed a shop or two but then it was time for my father and I to grab a bite to eat before heading for the big tent to see the shows. It was very warm so Miss Elizabeth and her mother did not stay too much longer.

She showed off her new parasol and we took a few more photos together before she left.

It was so delightful to meet Miss Elizabeth and get to chat with her a while! I wish the weather had permitted a longer time together but I'm so thankful for the time we did have!

The Dressing Mr. Darcy show was presented again this year and then the Regency Fashion Show was quite lovely this year. I will be doing a separate post with photos from that.

A new feature this year was the Regency Promenade where folks in Regency attire parade about the grounds. The goal was to beat the Guinness World Record by having 200 people in costume. Each participant was numbered and dad spotted one lady wearing a tag that said "#300"! 

Here is a 7 minute video of the Regency Promenade. Video stars sideways but changes to the right way round after 30 seconds. Also please forgive my fingers in the way for some of the video. The Promenade was led by a bagpiper! Later they took photos of the whole Promenade group which you can view along with official festival photos here.

Then my dad and I enjoyed browsing through the many Shops Of Meryton. I purchased a pretty reticule and a cute handkerchief (I don't have photos of those right now but promise to post some soon!). 

It was a very warm day so we stopped for iced latte drinks at a local Dairy Queen before starting our trip home. On the drive back we chatted about the Festival and finished listening to the Lady Susan audiobook (well dad did, I fell asleep a few times due to being very tired from a busy busy weekend :).

It was such a wonderful day but the most delightful part was getting to meet Miss Elizabeth (Dearest Lizzy!) and her mother and get to enjoy the Jane Austen Festival with her! 

Thank you Lizzy for greeting me with a hug, smiling and laughing with me, asking questions about naval history, enjoying the picturesque scenes, chatting about Jane Austen, remembering costumes worn in the films, enduring the heat, and being such a dear friend! I'm so glad I got to meet you in person! :)