List of Comedy Festivals
Live comedy is back! Here is a guide to the UK festivals which have comedy as part of their programme...
Kaleidoscope (London)
Saturday 24th July
A one-day festival at the Alexandra Park and Palace in London.
Appearing: Phil Wang, Sophie Duker, Jayde Adams, Reginald D Hunter, Glenn Moore
St Albans Comedy Garden
Wednesday 28th July to Sunday 1st August
Outdoor comedy gigs in Verulamium Park.
Appearing: Josh Widdicombe, Ivo Graham, Sarah Keyworth, Ed Gamble, Milton Jones, Phil Wang, Lou Sanders, John Robins, Alan Davies, Reginald D Hunter and more.
Camp Bestival (Dorset)
Thursday 29th July to Sunday 1st August
Based around Lulworth Castle in Dorset, this festival normally books a couple of big headline comedy acts.
Appearing: Justin Fletcher, Ellie Gibson, Helen Thorn, Dom Joly
Faversham Fringe (Kent)
Friday 30th July to Sunday 1st August
A fringe festival featuring all genres of the performing arts including stand-up, theatre, magic, storytelling, improv and hypnotism.
Appearing: Adam Morrison Jones, Adele Cliff, Kym Nash, Ben Harrington, Harun Musho'd, Mel Byron, Fiona Ridgewell, Sasha Ellen, Gareth Dorrian, Anky Damz and more.
The Camden Fringe (London)
Monday 2nd August to Sunday 29th August
Running for a month in North London, this festival involves lots of comedians playing across many different venues.
Appearing: Sharon Wanjohi, Abbie Edwards, Lew Fitz, Alice India, Ruby Carr, Jasmin Gleeson, Dan McKeon, Runi Talwaar, Hannah Brissenden, Kiran Saggu and more.
Fringe By The Sea (North Berwick)
Friday 6th August to Sunday 15th August
A festival held in the Scottish seaside town of North Berwick in August.
Appearing: Ed Byrne, Reginald D Hunter, Janey Godley, Lemn Sissay, Phil Kay, Simon Evans, Paul McCaffrey, Tom Stade, Susie McCabe, Jo Caulfield and more.
Rewind North (Macclesfield)
Friday 6th August to Sunday 8th August
A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Northern instalment, taking place in Macclesfield.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Friday 6th August to Monday 30th August
Thousands - literally thousands - of comedians appear at this festival each year. Check out BCG's comprehensive website. 2021 will be different though... due to Scotland's safety laws, it remains to be seen if in-person shows can go ahead in any notable number.
Salisbury Comedy Festival
Saturday 7th August
A comedy festival to be held in Hudson's Field.
Appearing: Frankie Boyle, Dara O Briain, Seann Walsh, Dane Baptiste, Angela Barnes, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Joe Wells, Ninia Benjamin, Andrew White, Janice Connolly and more.
Macclesfield Comedy Festival
Saturday 7th August
A festival taking place at Macclesfield Rugby Club.
Appearing: Ada Campe, Martin Mor, Nutty Noah, Jed Salisbury, Gary Jenninson, Hal Cruttenden, Shazia Mirza, Glenn Wool, Jonathan Mayor, Matt Stellingwerf
Stourbridge Comedy Festival
Saturday 7th August to Saturday 18th September
A comedy festival held in the Irish pub the Katie Fitzgerald's.
Appearing: Ed Byrne, Radu Isac, Ben Briggs, Wayne Beese, Hal Cruttenden, Steve Day, Jamie Hutchinson, Rhys James, Scott Bennett, Josh Pugh and more.
The Blue Tick Festival (Dalston)
Tuesday 10th August to Wednesday 18th August
A festival of online comedians having their work screened at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, London.
Appearing: Alistair Green, The Pin, Lucia Keskin, Megan Stalter, Bilal Zafar, Chris Fleming, Michael Boahen, Olaf Falafel
Green Man (Brecon Beacons)
Thursday 19th August to Sunday 22nd August
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.
Wilderness Festival (Oxfordshire)
Thursday 19th August to Sunday 22nd August
Based in Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, this festival has booked some big name comedians in previous years.
Appearing: Alexis Dubus, John Lloyd, Jolyon Rubinstein, Harry Venning
Rewind South (Henley-on-Thames)
Friday 20th August to Sunday 22nd August
A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Southern instalment, taking place in Oxfordshire.
Lost Village (Lincolnshire)
Thursday 26th August to Sunday 29th August
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.
Laughs On The Lawn (Burton Constable)
Friday 27th August
An outdoor comedy festival organised by the people behind the Hull Comedy Festival, held at Burton Constable, East Yorkshire.
Appearing: Daliso Chaponda, Haseeb Malik, Khalid Raheem, David Smith, Milly Armstrong-Clark, Frasco Fools, Tom Binns, Jack Gleadow, Yuriko Kotani, Katie Prichard and more.
Byline Festival (East Sussex)
Friday 27th August to Monday 30th August
Festival in the woodlands of Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest, near the A22 in East Sussex.
Reading & Leeds Festivals
Friday 27th August to Sunday 29th August
The biggest music and comedy acts appear together at the same dual-location, 3-day festival event.
Victorious Festival (Portsmouth)
Friday 27th August to Sunday 29th August
Victorious Festival launched its first comedy tent in 2018.
Greater Manchester Fringe
Wednesday 1st September to Thursday 30th September
The Greater Manchester Fringe takes place across September.
Appearing: Dickie Dido, Henry Churniavsky, Johnny T. Grrr, Scott McPherson, Ben Moor, Joanna Neary, Nathan Cassidy, Eryn Tett, Sian Parry-Williams, Maggie Wignall and more.
Big Mouth Comedy Festival (Portsmouth)
Friday 3rd September to Saturday 4th September
A comedy festival at the Guildhall venue in Portsmouth.
Appearing: Nabil Abdulrashid, Paul McCaffrey, Suzi Ruffell, Michael Odewale, Charlie Baker, Nathan Caton, Jake Lambert, Marlon Davis, Ali Cook, Travis Jay and more.
Aberdeen International Comedy Festival
Saturday 11th September to Sunday 28th November
Usually a ten-day festival features national and international comedians, who will perform throughout the city centre. In 2021 the shows were spread over several months.
Appearing: Gary Meikle, Tez Ilyas, Jack Dee, Katherine Ryan, Luisa Omielan, Jon Richardson, Daniel Sloss
Petworth Fringe
Tuesday 14th September to Thursday 30th September
A season of events in Petworth, West Sussex.
Appearing: Paul Sinha, Jack Barry, Helen Bauer, Ray Badran
Henley Festival
Wednesday 15th September to Sunday 19th September
A posh festival that attracts a number of top comedy headliners.
Appearing: Anuvab Pal, Olga Koch, Ken Cheng, Justin Moorhouse, Al Murray, Edward Askham-Spencer, Ada Campe, Jonny Awsum, Lee Ridley, Shaparak Khorsandi and more.
Greenwich Comedy Festival (London)
Wednesday 15th September to Sunday 19th September
One of London's biggest comedy festivals, with lots of well-known acts performing each year.
Appearing: Milton Jones, Phil Wang, Sarah Keyworth, Ray Badran, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Nish Kumar, Joel Dommett, Janine Harouni, Ivo Graham, Ed Gamble and more.
HowTheLightGetsIn (London)
Saturday 18th September to Sunday 19th September
Comedy from a range of great talent you might not yet have seen on television.
Women in Comedy Festival (Manchester)
Friday 1st October to Sunday 10th October
A Manchester-based festival featuring female acts.
Appearing: Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Rachel Fairburn, Hayley Ellis, Sara Barron, Olga Koch
Southport Comedy Festival
Friday 1st October to Sunday 17th October
Featuring top acts, a Children's Comedy Festival, a competition for new comedians, and more.
Appearing: Tez Ilyas, Jason Byrne, Ed Byrne, Mark Thomas, Reginald D Hunter, Jo Caulfield, Luisa Omielan, Hal Cruttenden, Helen Bauer, Tom Stade and more.
Aberystwyth Comedy Festival
Friday 1st October to Sunday 3rd October
A new-ish comedy festival from the team that organise Machynlleth.
Appearing: Olga Koch, Bridget Christie, Leila Navabi, Sara Barron, Adam Drake, Edward Easton, Kath Hughes, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Alastair Roberts, Daran Johnson and more.
Birmingham Comedy Festival
Friday 1st October to Sunday 10th October
Over 70 comedy performances take place across the city each October.
Appearing: Josh Pugh, Craig Deeley, Linda Hargreaves, Harvey Hawkins, Mary Flanigan, Janice Connolly, Alex Lowe, Dan Whitehouse, Chris Stokes, James Cook and more.
The Laugharne Weekend (South Wales)
Friday 1st October to Sunday 3rd October
Arts festival, including comedy, held in Laugharne in South Wales.
Appearing: Henry Normal, Luke Wright, Robin Ince, Christopher Spencer, Nick Revell, Martin Rowson
Leamington Spa Comedy Festival
Saturday 2nd October to Saturday 9th October
The Leamington Spa Comedy Festival takes place in October.
Appearing: Rhys Morgan, Robert West, Ellie Gibson, Helen Thorn, Tez Ilyas
Henley Literary Festival
Saturday 2nd October to Sunday 10th October
Comedians who have written a book are often booked to speak at this festival.
Appearing: Jack Dee, Tom Allen, Ruby Wax, Robert Webb, Mel Giedroyc, Fi Glover, Jane Garvey, Gyles Brandreth, Miles Jupp, Rob Beckett and more.
Last Stop To Edinburgh Comedy Festival (Leeds)
Friday 8th October to Sunday 10th October
A festival originally for Edinburgh preview shows held in Stockton and Leeds. The Leeds shows are performed Carriageworks Theatre.
Appearing: Loyiso Gola
Last Stop To Edinburgh Comedy Festival (Stockton)
Friday 22nd October to Saturday 23rd October
A two-day Edinburgh Fringe preview festival at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees, featuring big names, local acts and kids' shows.
Appearing: Phil Smith, Fran Garrity, John O'Sullivan, Vaun Earl Norman, Eddie French, Chris Lumb, Catherine Young, Tony Law, Bobby Mair, Jed Salisbury and more.
West Didsbury Comedy Festival (Manchester)
Thursday 28th October to Sunday 31st October
Comedy in the Manchester suburb. The open-to-all long weekend features festival favourites, TV comedians, rising stars and local talent.
Appearing: Boothby Graffoe
Nottingham Comedy Festival
Friday 12th November to Saturday 20th November
Nottingham Comedy Festival is an open access festival where acts of all levels and types of comedy are welcome to apply.
Vault Festival (London)
Tuesday 25th January to Sunday 20th March 2022
Running across several months early in the year, Vault Festival is described as "London's answer to Edinburgh's Fringe". Returns in 2022.
Slapstick Festival (Bristol)
Wednesday 26th January to Sunday 30th January 2022
An annual celebration of slapstick comedy.
Leicester Comedy Festival
Wednesday 2nd February to Sunday 20th February 2022
One of the country's biggest comedy festivals.
Appearing: Ahir Shah, Ed Gamble, Ross Noble, Katherine Ryan, Stewart Lee, Henning Wehn, Fascinating Aïda
Wychwood Festival (Cheltenham)
Friday 3rd June to Sunday 5th June 2022
This Cheltenham-based festival's comedy offering is "a small but perfectly-formed line-up".
Cornbury Festival (Oxfordshire)
Friday 8th July to Sunday 10th July 2022
This Oxfordshire festival features stand-up alongside various musical performances.
Rewind Scotland (Perth)
Friday 22nd July to Sunday 24th July 2022
A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Scottish instalment, taking place in Perth.
Elephant Camp (Northamptonshire)
Friday 29th July to Sunday 31st July 2022
A festival featuring a number of comedy bookings, currently held in Fawsley Park. Formerly the Port Eliot Festival, which was based in St Germans, Cornwall.
Deer Shed Festival (North Yorkshire)
Friday 29th July to Sunday 31st July 2022
An annual festival at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire.
Other festivals to look out for
The following festivals have yet to confirm their next dates.
Edinburgh International Improv Festival
This festival normally takes place in February
Scotland's first and only festival of improv.
Glasgow International Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in March
Many top names perform in Glasgow in March.
Bath Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in April
Bath Comedy Festival gets bigger each year. For 2021, it was sub-titled "Permission To Laugh Festival!"
April Fools Barnsley Comedy Fest
This festival normally takes place in April
As its name suggests, this festival takes place in April.
Underbelly Festival (Cavendish Square, London)
This festival normally takes place in April
A tented venue set up near the Southbank Centre in London, running through much of Spring and Summer.
Bath Fringe
This festival normally takes place in May
"People talking (usually one at a time) at a microphone. Often funny, occasionally profound."
Brighton Fringe
This festival normally takes place in May
Lots of shows, many of them work-in-progress gigs.
Leeds Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in May
Leeds Comedy Festival last took place in 2017, but returned in 2021.
Machynlleth Comedy Festival (Wales)
This festival normally takes place in May
The 'secret festival' in Wales. A wide variety of acts perform over the early May Bank Holiday weekend.
Hay Festival (Wales)
This festival normally takes place in May
Located in Wales, with mainly literary based events. Comedians often read their books here.
London Clown Festival
This festival normally takes place in May
This festival explores what clown is to the modern performer and their audiences.
Wells Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in May
Many of the best acts flock to this well-regarded Somerset-based festival.
HowTheLightGetsIn (Hay-on-Wye)
This festival normally takes place in May
A four-day festival of philosophy and music, including a selection of great comic talent.
Lichfield Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in May
A full day of entertainment and comedy for all the family in Beacon Park.
Manford's Blackpool Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in May
Comedy festivals held by Jason Manford's comedy club.
Bristol Comedy Garden
This festival normally takes place in June
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.
Glastonbury Festival
This festival normally takes place in June
Comedians can always be found at Glastonbury in the various comedy-related performance areas.
Hastings Fringe Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in June
The Hastings Fringe is an independent, free festival featuring a range of comedy stars.
Oxford Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in June
A month-long comedy festival that normally happens in July. The organisers present some of the best comedians headed to Edinburgh and other large festivals.
Attic Arts Club (Crystal Palace, London)
This festival normally takes place in June
A festival at Upper Norwood Library Hub in Crystal Palace.
Oban Comedy Festival (Scotland)
This festival normally takes place in June
A Scottish comedy festival featuring gigs spread across a month.
Buxton Festival Fringe
This festival normally takes place in July
One of the largest open-access arts festivals in the country, providing three weeks of "friendly, supportive and affordable" entertainment each July.
Cambridge Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival in Cambridge, which has been occurring for more than a decade.
Guildford Fringe Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
Lots of comedy shows take place in Guildford across July.
Latitude (Suffolk)
This festival normally takes place in July
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.
ARG Com Fest (Shoreditch, London)
This festival normally takes place in July
The Actually Rather Good Comedy Festival (aka ARGComFest) hosts lots of preview shows each July in Shoreditch, ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe.
Ealing Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
The Ealing Comedy Festival takes place over several nights in July, in Walpole Park.
Larmer Tree Festival (South)
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival in Cranborne Chase, straddling Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.
Kendal Calling
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival at Lowther Deer Park in The Lake District.
Balham Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
Based at The Bedford in Balham, this festival always offer up one of the best line-ups of the summer.
Darlington Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
The Darlington Comedy Festival usually runs from early July for a month.
The Tringe (Hertfordshire)
This festival normally takes place in July
A series of Edinburgh Festival preview shows performed in the Hertfordshire market town of Tring.
Barnes Fringe
This festival normally takes place in July
Edinburgh may be some 415 miles from Barnes, but for one week only in July, you can catch many of the acts appearing at the world-famous Festival in a series of exclusive previews taking place at the OSO Arts Centre and the Olympic Cinema.
Tramlines (Sheffield)
This festival normally takes place in July
A three-day festival in Sheffield, including music and comedy.
Standon Calling (Hertfordshire)
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival of music, comedy and family-friendly entertainment.
Y Not Festival (Derbyshire)
This festival normally takes place in July
'Y Not?' is a Peak District music festival which often has some great comedy names also performing.
Milton Keynes International Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
An outdoor theatre with large and small-scale performance, circus, stand-up comedy, live music, family activities and free events.
Brighton Comedy Garden
This festival normally takes place in July
The first Brighton Comedy Garden planted its roots in June 2019.
Bedford Festival Fringe
This festival normally takes place in July
Events take place at The Quarry Theatre and The Place Theatre in the Bedfordshire market town.
Marlowe Comedy Weekender (Canterbury)
This festival normally takes place in July
A celebration of all things funny at Higginson Park.
Chester Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
First held in 2018, this comedy festival takes place each year in the historic North-Western city.
West Yorkshire Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival covering Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
Country Mile Comedy Festival (Kings Cross, London)
This festival normally takes place in July
A festival held at the Country Mile Comedy Club in Kings Cross.
Ventnor Fringe (Isle of Wight)
This festival normally takes place in July
Comedy on the Isle of Wight.
Assembly Festival Garden (Coventry)
This festival normally takes place in July
A special event held in a Covid-safe venue in Coventry, as the city marks its spot as City of Culture 2021.
Ludlow Fringe Festival
This festival normally takes place in August
A bunch of comedy shows to enjoy in the Shropshire market town.
Liverpool Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in September
A range of shows across Liverpool city centre and Merseyside.
Objectively Funny Festival (London)
This festival normally takes place in September
A festival in central London (The Albany on Great Portland Street).
Winchester Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in September
A series of shows from the Hampshire city, including the Theatre Royal.
Funny Things (Wolverhampton)
This festival normally takes place in October
Wolverhampton's comedy festival.
Leith Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in October
Leith Comedy Festival aims to celebrate and inspire creativity and wellbeing through laughter.
Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe
This festival normally takes place in October
Described as "a new fringe festival with a broad Jewish flavour", it takes place in various cities across the country.
Hull Comedy Festival
This festival normally takes place in November
Fun across various venues in the centre of Hull.