It's a novel way of seeing Bath: dress in your best Georgian finery and promenade like a Jane Austen character around the city's crescents. The novelist's home town - and setting for two of her most famous books, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - plays host to the annual Bath Jane Austen Festival from Saturday to 26 September (01225 463362; www.janeaustenfestival.co.uk).

The fun starts with a costume promenade through Bath taking in the Royal Crescent and Circus, followed by walking tours of the city's Austen highlights, talks on the art of tea making in the 18th century at the Jane Austen Centre, and a theatrical performance of Pride and Prejudice .

Also on offer are talks on the food of the time, men's 18th-century fashions (entitled 'Undressing Mr Darcy' in case the target audience wasn't clear) and a finale featuring an Indian reworking of Pride and Prejudice (now Bride and Prejudice ) in which the Bennets of Longbourn become the Bakshis of Amritsar in this film by Bend it Like Beckham's director Gurinder Chadha, starring Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai.