Bridgerton Ball to grace Portsmouth

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The Scioto County Public Library network is ready to take guests back to the Regency Era in April, as they plan and prepare for their first ever Bridgerton Ball.

“We are holding the event on the main floor of the Portsmouth Public Library, because we feel like the historical design and elements, with the glass dome and nice architecture, would be the perfect space for it,” Katie Williams, of the Scioto County Public Library, said.

The library system offers dozens of events and programs a month. Many of these events, classes, crafts, and more are free to the community, while some are at minimal cost. Despite the ball being a very large collection of fun features, the system plans on providing it free for guests.

“Like a lot of our events, the Bridgerton Ball is totally free and open to the public, however, we do ask that they register ahead of time by calling 740.354.5688 or by stopping into any of our library locations to get registered,” Williams said. “We always try to offer events free to the public as much as possible, so, with this being the first time hosting an event like this, we felt like it was a really good opportunity to offer it for free.”

The night will be multi-faceted with plenty to do for guests in attendance.

“We are going to be having music, dancing, teatime refreshments, as well as some crafts set up. One of my favorites includes ‘The Secret Language of the Fan,’ in which we will also have a station setup to get your own fan and decorate it however you want. We are also going to have portraits taken, so you can show up in your best gown or suit and participate in that. That’s not necessarily required, but, if you have proper Regency attire, then you’re definitely encouraged to come dressed sharply. We are also going to offer a class on a regency dance that you can participate in throughout the night and will also have historically relevant displays setup around the room with information on the Regency Era.”

The library staff have been pulling together to organize the ball. According to Williams, they’ve been researching and looking into how to provide a busy night of fun activities.

“Library staff were trying to come up with a special event to offer the community. We always try to tie our programming to some sort of connection to reading, a book, or a service we provide at the library. Bridgerton is actually a popular book series that was recently turned into a Netflix show,” Williams said, “Other libraries across the country have been offering some sort of Bridgerton program like balls, or crafts and teatime programs. Our staff researched and felt this would be a nice program for us to offer.”

While the library frequently looks at large novel franchises and other multimedia programs, Williams believes that the Bridgerton Ball in particular will be a big hit.

“It is a very popular book series, and everyone loves getting dressed up. There is something special about that Regency era of attire and music. If you watch the Netflix series or read the books, there is this little modern twist to it and offering it with music in the form of a ball for all to come and enjoy is the inspiration behind us pulling everything together.”

Williams also explained that they’ll be announcing a “Diamond of the Season,” in which a queen selects a winner.

The Bridgerton Ball will be held Thursday, April 27, between 5-7 p.m. at the Portsmouth Public Library, 1220 Gallia Street.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved

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