Whether you’re a lover of the Pride and Prejudice book, 2005 film of the same name or any of Jane Austen’s other classic stories and film adaptations, 2025 is the year to celebrate one of the world’s most iconic authors. Next year marks the 250^th anniversary of Austen’s birth and travelers are invited to venture around Hampshire — Austen’s birthplace, where she wrote all of her novels and where she died.

Hampshire has a series of special events, tours and exhibitions in store for 2025 in honor of the anniversary. Winchester House, where Austen spent the last weeks of her life and where she died in 1817, will open for the first time to the public.

Next summer will also see Winchester College open No. 8 College Street for a limited time. Winchester will bring visitors on a journey through Austen’s life via displays and artifacts, from a special service at Winchester Cathedral (where she is buried), to the unveiling of a statue, theater performances and an exhibition of Austen’s manuscript of a poem.

Other events in store include new exhibitions and experiences at Jane Austen’s house in Chawton, her home for eight years and where she wrote all of her books. And just a few miles from Chawton is Steventon, where Austen was born and spent more than two decades. On July 6, Steventon hosts Jane Austen’s Country Fair on Pump Field, the site of the rectory where she was born.

Across the county, exhibitions and events, like Beyond the Bonnets at The Gallery in The Arc in Winchester, will debut. For visitors wanting to dress in a period piece, Winchester’s Great Hall will host a Regency Ball and fashion show next summer.

In Southampton, Austen’s traveling writing desk goes on display for the first time since she lived in the city, November 2024–February 2025 in God’s House Tower. Meanwhile, in Alton, a town once frequented by Austen and her sister, there will be a summer Regency Ball and program of talks, guided walks and workshops. The town will also create a Regency-style garden in memory of the author.