ALTON’S Jane Austen Regency Week has been postponed until 2021.

“We have now reluctantly had to concede that we will have to cancel Jane Austen Regency Week for 2020,” confirmed Regency week organiser Pat Lerew.

“Back in March we were hoping that by the end of June we might have returned to some kind of normality but things seem to have changed remarkably little in the last eight weeks so we have now made the decision to postpone everything until 2021.

“We had also thought it might be possible to put on a mini-version in late September/October but most of our committee felt that things would still be too uncertain at that time.

“We would be very pleased if you could put Saturday, June 19 to Sunday, June 27, 2021 in your diaries for next year.

“Let’s hope we will have got to grips with it all by then.”

It is likely that 2021’s festival will largely feature the events that had been planned for 2020, so will include the popular regulars such as Alton Regency Day and the Alton Regency Ball, as well as special talks, workshops, discussions, tours and a lot more besides.

To find out about the Jane Austen Regency Week, visit http://www.janeaustenregencyweek.co.uk