Jane Austen’s 250th Birthday Celebrations Details Announced

2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and Jane Austen's House in Chawton, Hampshire, will be celebrating with numerous events during the year.

Leading the celebrations will be a new permanent exhibition, Jane Austen and the Art of Writing, which opens in October 2024. According to the organisers it will "directly link Jane Austen’s creative process with the domestic space from which it came" and will showcase the museum’s unique collection of manuscript letters and first editions to explain Austen’s writing process".

Throughout 2025 there will also be a series of mini festivals at the museum including special events, walks, talks and tours, late-views, screenings and performances. Online events will enable fans her works around the world to join in.

The first will run January 23-28 and focus on Pride and Prejudice, building on the museum's popular annual Pride & Prejudice Day January 28, the anniversary of its publication. This will be followed by the spring festival running May 1-11 , where Austen’s first-published novel Sense & Sensibility will take centrestage. 

A summer festival held July 12-20 moves the focus to her novel Emma and the autumn one (September 12-21 ) to Persuasion. There will be a Christmas festival December 13-21 and the opportunity to visit the House by candlelight with musical performances and readings. The festivities come to head on December 16 for Jane Austen’s 250th birthday and the annual Virtual Birthday Party.

Event tickets will go on sale from September 2024.