List of Comedy Festivals

Here is a list of the main comedy festivals in the UK.

Coronavirus lockdown has meant most 2020 festivals have been cancelled.

January

Vault Festival (London)

Running across several months early in the year, Vault Festival is described as "London's answer to Edinburgh's Fringe".

February

Edinburgh International Improv Festival

Scotland's first and only festival of improv.

Leicester Comedy Festival

One of the country's biggest comedy festivals.

Slapstick Festival (Bristol)

An annual celebration of slapstick comedy.

March

Glasgow International Comedy Festival

Many top names perform in Glasgow in March.

April

Bath Comedy Festival

Bath Comedy Festival gets bigger each year.

Bristol Comedy Festival

A one-day event running across three venues in Bristol, featuring 18 hours of Fringe comedy previews.

Comedy Chest Fest

8 top comedians in Bristol for only £3.50 a show. Your chance to see them trying out new material for their upcoming tours and Edinburgh.

Underbelly Festival Southbank

A tented venue set up near the Southbank Centre in London, running through much of Spring and Summer.

West Didsbury Comedy Festival (Manchester)

A new festival for 2020, due to take place in the Manchester suburb. The open-to-all long weekend will feature festival favourites, TV comedians, rising stars and local talent.

May

Bath Fringe

People talking (usually one at a time) at a microphone. Often funny, occasionally profound.

Brighton Fringe

Lots of shows, many of them work-in-progress gigs.

Hay Festival

Located in Wales, with mainly literary based events. Comedians often read their books here.

HowTheLightGetsIn (Hay-on-Wye)

A four-day festival of philosophy and music, including a selection of great comic talent.

Machynlleth Comedy Festival

The 'secret festival' in Wales. A wide variety of acts perform over the early May Bank Holiday weekend.

Manford's Blackpool Comedy Festival

The inaugural Manford's Blackpool Comedy Festival was held in May 2019. It'll return to the home of British comedy in May 2020 with an all-star line-up.

Wells Comedy Festival

Many of the best acts flock to this well-regarded Somerset-based festival.

Wychwood Festival (Cheltenham)

This festival's comedy offering is a small but perfectly-formed line-up.

June

Brighton Comedy Garden

The first Brighton Comedy Garden plants its roots in June 2019 with five nights of stand-up.

Bristol Comedy Garden

Queen Square, in the heart of Bristol, is transformed into a comedy wonderland in the Summer, complete with legendary line-ups in the Big Top and Apple Top venues.

CH1 Chester Comedy Festival

First held in 2018, this comedy festival takes place each year in the historic North-Western city.

Glastonbury Festival

Comedians can always be found at Glastonbury in the various comedy-related performance areas.

Guildford Fringe Festival

Lots of comedy shows take place in Guildford across July.

Hastings Fringe Comedy Festival

The Hastings Fringe is an independent, free festival featuring a range of comedy stars.

Ludlow Fringe Festival

A bunch of comedy shows to enjoy in the Shropshire market town.

Oxford Festival Fringe Preview Comedy Festival.

Oxford Comedy Festival

A month-long comedy festival happening throughout July. The organisers are presenting some of the best comedians headed to Edinburgh and other large festivals.

Petworth Fringe

A season of events in Petworth, West Sussex. Notably, this fringe festival includes the biggest comedy prize in the country: £10,001.

July

ARG Com Fest (London)

The Actually Rather Good Comedy Festival (aka ARGComFest) hosts lots of preview shows each July in Shoreditch, ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Balham Comedy Festival

Based at The Bedford in Balham, this festival always offer up one of the best line-ups of the summer.

Bedford Festival Fringe

Events take place at The Quarry Theatre and The Place Theatre.

Buxton Festival Fringe

One of the largest open-access arts festivals in the country.

Camp Bestival (Dorset)

Based around Lulworth Castle in Dorset, this festival normally books a couple of big headline comedy acts.

Cornbury Festival (Oxfordshire)

This Oxfordshire festival features stand-up alongside various musical performances.

Crieff Comedy Festival

The Crieff Comedy Festival in Scotland takes place at various venues throughout the Perthshire town.

Curious Arts Festival (Hampshire)

An arts festival in the heart of rural Hampshire.

Darlington Comedy Festival

The Darlington Comedy Festival usually runs from early July for a month.

Deer Shed Festival (North Yorkshire)

An annual festival at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire.

Deli Comedy Festival (London)

A month of shows at Theatre Deli's London venues (The Old Library in Camberwell and Theatre Deli in Finsbury Avenue).

Ealing Comedy Festival

The Ealing Comedy Festival takes place over several nights in July, in Walpole Park.

Greater Manchester Fringe

The Greater Manchester Fringe takes place across July.

Henley Festival

A posh festival that attracts a number of top comedy headliners.

Kaleidoscope (London)

A one-day festival at the Alexandra Park and Palace in London.

Kendal Calling

A festival at Lowther Deer Park in The Lake District.

Larmer Tree Festival (South)

A festival in Cranborne Chase, straddling Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.

Last Stop To Edinburgh Comedy Festival (Stockton-on-Tees)

A two-day Edinburgh Fringe preview festival at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton, featuring big names, local acts and kids' shows.

Latitude (Suffolk)

Easily one of the best comedy line-ups in the country. This festival - featuring multiple areas for comedy - attracts both big name headliners and lesser known alternative acts.

Marlowe Comedy Festival (Canterbury)

A celebration of all things funny at The Marlowe theatre in Canterbury.

Rewind Scotland (Perth)

A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Scottish instalment, taking place in Perth.

Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival

The Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival has been running since 2017.

South Tyneside Comedy Festival

The aim of this festival is to put incredible comics on, doing their festival shows, at affordable prices.

Standon Calling (Hertfordshire)

A festival of music, comedy and family-friendly entertainment.

The Camden Fringe

Running for a month in North London, this festival involves lots of comedians playing across 25 different venues.

The Tringe (Hertfordshire)

A series of Edinburgh Festival preview shows performed in the Hertfordshire market town of Tring.

Tramlines (Sheffield)

A three-day festival in Sheffield, including music and comedy.

Words In Progress

A two-day Edinburgh Fringe preview showcase at Stoke Newington's Tower Theatre in north London.

Y Not Festival (Derbyshire)

Y Not? is a Peak District music festival with some great comedy names also performing.

August

Byline Festival (East Sussex)

Festival in the woodlands of Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest, near the A22 in East Sussex.

Cornwall Comedy Festival

Also known as Stand Up In The Wylds. Located near Bude in North Cornwall.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Thousands - literally thousands - of comedians appear at this festival each year. Check out BCG's comprehensive coverage

Green Man (Brecon Beacons)

This festival takes place in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. It's popular with comedians and so a number appear at the festival each year.

Livewire Festival (Blackpool)

Livewire Festival's Thursday evening slot is a celebration of British Comedy, all performing next to Blackpool's iconic Comedy Carpet.

Lost Village is an otherworldly 4-day festival experience set in an abandoned woodland village. The festival includes, food, music, workshops and comedy from both household and acclaimed but lesser-known acts.

Reading & Leeds Festivals

The biggest music and comedy acts appear together at the same dual-location, 2-day festival event.

Rewind North (Cheshire)

A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Northern instalment, taking place in Cheshire.

Rewind South (Henley-on-Thames)

A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Southern instalment, taking place in Oxfordshire.

Victorious Festival (Portsmouth)

Victorious Festival launched its first comedy tent in 2018.

Wilderness Festival (Oxfordshire)

Based in Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, this festival has booked some big name comedians in previous years.

September

Greenwich Comedy Festival

One of London's biggest comedy festivals, with lots of well-known acts performing each year.

Henley Literary Festival

Comedians who have written a book are often booked to speak at this festival.

HowTheLightGetsIn (London)

Comedy from a range of great talent you might not yet have seen on television.

Liverpool Comedy Festival

A range of shows across Liverpool city centre and Merseyside.

Objectively Funny Festival (London)

A festival in central London (The Albany on Great Portland Street). 2018's line-up comprises 42 shows over 10 days.

Winchester Comedy Festival

Ten days of comedy in a number of venues across the Hampshire city, including the Theatre Royal.

October

Aberdeen International Comedy Festival

The ten-day festival will feature national and international comedians, who will perform throughout the city centre.

Aberystwyth Comedy Festival

A new comedy festival from the team that organise Machynlleth.

Birmingham Comedy Festival

Over 70 comedy performances take place across the city each October.

Birmingham Improv Festival

Established in 2016, this is an annual week-long festival of improvisational comedy.

Faversham Fringe (Kent)

A fringe festival featuring all genres of the performing arts including stand-up, theatre, magic, storytelling, improv and hypnotism. 2020 will mark the fifth year of Faversham Fringe.

Funny Things (Wolverhampton)

Wolverhampton's comedy festival. The 2017 event featured over 120 events across 16 venues, celebrating Black Country humour.

Leamington Spa Comedy Festival

The Leamington Spa Comedy Festival takes place in October.

Leith Comedy Festival

Leith Comedy Festival - launching in October 2020 - aims to celebrate and inspire creativity and wellbeing through laughter. It will be a platform for homegrown talent and will welcome performers from further afield.