Crunch time is here for the Jane Austen Festival in Port Alberni. The Festival is going to take a second run at a Guinness World Record for the most people dressed in Regency costume gathered in one place at one time.
The 2018 count takes place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 7 at the Alberni District Secondary School Theatre. The doors will be closed at 10 a.m. so participants are asked to come earlier to be counted.
READ: Chicago Opera to kick off Jane Austen Festival
The number to beat is 409. Last year, the Port Alberni festival counted 286 people: this year, with the addition of the 80-strong Chamber Opera Tours from Chicago, spokesperson Tricia Knight is hopeful the record will be broken here in Canada.
There will be a promenade at Centennial Pier following the official count, as well as a tea and Regency ball.
The Chamber Opera from Chicago will perform its second of two showings of Jane Austen’s Persuasion: A Musical Drama tonight at 7:30 p.m. (July 6). Tickets may still be available at the door.
The first show, July 5, nearly filled the ADSS Theatre as audience members were mesmerized by the tale of Anne Elliot, Captain Wentworth and the Musgrove family. Persuasion was written at the height of author Jane Austen’s career, and Barbara Landis—who plays both Austen and Anne Elliot—adapted the popular mid-19th century love story as a musical drama.
