List of Comedy Festivals

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

Ongoing Festivals

Colchester Comedy Festival

Running until Sunday 22nd October

16 days of mirth and laughter programmed at venues all over Colchester. Phil Jupitus, Jo Caulfield and Jeremy Hardy are amongst the 2017 line-up.

Southport Comedy Festival

Running until Sunday 22nd October

Featuring top acts, a Children's Comedy Festival, a competition for new comedians, and more.

October

Henley Literary Festival

This year's festival has now finished

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

Leamington Spa Comedy Festival

This year's festival has now finished

The Leamington Spa Comedy Festival takes place in October.

Aberdeen Comedy Festival

This year's festival has now finished

Over 60 shows in a wide range of venues in the city centre, including some of Aberdeen's best loved bars, clubs and hotels.

Birmingham Comedy Festival

This year's festival has now finished

Over 70 comedy performances across the city.

Halifax Comedy Festival

Friday 20th October to Saturday 28th October

Sara Pascoe, Richard Herring and Lee Nelson are amongst the acts performing at the 2017 festival.

Birmingham Improv Festival

Monday 23rd October to Sunday 29th October

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

Gloucester Comedy Festival

Thursday 26th October to Sunday 29th October

The first Gloucester Comedy Festival took place in 2016. It returns in October 2017.

Women in Comedy Festival

Thursday 19th October to Sunday 29th October

A Manchester-based festival featuring female acts. In 2016, there were over 100 shows involved.

Funny Things (Wolverhampton)

Monday 23rd October to Sunday 5th November

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

November

Nottingham Comedy Festival

Friday 3rd November to Saturday 11th November

The 9th Nottingham Comedy Festival is taking place between the 3rd to 11th November 2017 in many venues across the city. This is an open access festival so acts of all levels and types of comedy are welcome to apply.

Hull Comedy Festival

Thursday 2nd November to Wednesday 22nd November

Three weeks of fun across various venues in the centre of Hull.

January 2018

Slapstick Festival

Thursday 25th January to Sunday 28th January 2018

The 2018 festival has been extended to four days, and will include The Slapstick Gala hosted by Tim Vine.

Vault Festival

Wednesday 24th January to Sunday 18th March 2018

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

February 2018

Leicester Comedy Festival

Wednesday 7th February to Sunday 25th February 2018

One of the country's biggest comedy festivals. See their website for the latest news.

Shoreditch Improv Festival

This festival normally takes place in February

A small festival at The Water Poet in London's Shoreditch focused around improv groups.

March 2018

Glasgow International Comedy Festival

Thursday 8th March to Sunday 25th March 2018

Many top names perform in Glasgow in March. See the website for more information.

April 2018

April Fools Barnsley Comedy Fest

This festival normally takes place in April

As the name suggests, this festival takes place in April.

Bath Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in April

Bath Comedy Festival gets bigger each year.

That's Fife! Festival

This festival normally takes place in April

Fife festival will be four years old in 2018.

Udderbelly Festival

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.

May 2018

Bath Fringe

Friday 25th May to Sunday 10th June 2018

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

Brighton Fringe

Friday 4th May to Sunday 3rd June 2018

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

Derby Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in May

The third Derby comedy festival will occur in 2018.

Hay Festival

Thursday 24th May to Tuesday 5th June 2018

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

Leeds Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in May

A comedy festival for Leeds.

London Clown Festival

This festival normally takes place in May

Based around The Omnibus at Manor House, this festival explores what clown is to the modern performer and their audiences.

Machynlleth Comedy Festival

Friday 4th May to Sunday 6th May 2018

The 'secret festival' in Wales. A wide variety of acts perform over the bank holiday weekend.

Wells Comedy Festival

Friday 25th May to Sunday 27th May 2018

Stewart Lee, Milton Jones, Joe Lycett, James Acaster, Bridget Christie and Sara Pascoe are amongst the comedians who have performed at this well-regarded Somerset-based festival.

June 2018

Bristol Comedy Garden

This festival normally takes place in June

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

Croydon Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in June

The third annual Croydon Comedy Festival runs across the summer.

Glastonbury Festival

This festival normally takes place in June

Comedians can always be found at Glastonbury in the various comedy-related performance areas. The festival will be back in June 2019.

Hastings Fringe Comedy Festival

Wednesday 13th June to Sunday 17th June 2018

10 locations in the old town of Hastings will be the centre for 5 days of street acts and stand-up comedy. The festival has space to accomadate 120 comedians in 2018.

Ludlow Fringe Festival

This festival normally takes place in June

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

The Tringe

This festival normally takes place in June

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

July 2018

ARG Com Fest

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. It will return in 2018.

Balham Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

Based at The Bedford in Balham, this festival attracts a number of great names. 2017 was the festival's sixth year.

Balham Free Fringe Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

A weekend of totally free comedy shows to support the PBH Free Fringe movement.

Barnes Fringe Festival

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.

Buxton Festival Fringe

Wednesday 4th July to Sunday 22nd July 2018

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

Cambridge Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

A festival in Cambridge, which has been running for 11 years.

Camp Bestival

Thursday 26th July to Sunday 29th July 2018

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

Cornbury Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

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

Darlington Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

Funny people come to Darlington in July.

Deer Shed Festival

Friday 20th July to Sunday 22nd July 2018

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

Ealing Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

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

Greater Manchester Fringe

This festival normally takes place in July

The 6th Greater Manchester Fringe took place 1st - 31st July 2017.

Guildford Fringe Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

Lots of comedy shows take place in Guildford across July.

Henley Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

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

Jesterval

This festival normally takes place in July

A comedy festival in the North East.

Kendal Calling

Thursday 26th July to Sunday 29th July 2018

A festival at Lowther Deer Park in The Lake District.

Larmer Tree Festival

Friday 20th July to Sunday 22nd July 2018

A festival in Cranborne Chase (straddling Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire). There will be no festival in 2017, but it is set to return in 2018.

Latitude

Thursday 12th July to Sunday 15th July 2018

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.

Laugh Out London Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

A bunch of comedy shows based at The Old Queens Head in Angel.

Port Eliot Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

Based in St Germans, Cornwall, one of the venues features a number of comedy bookings.

Man Down. Dan (Greg Davies). Copyright: Avalon Television.

Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

The inaugural Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival took place on Friday 21, Saturday 22 and Sunday 23rd July across four venues in Shrewsbury. Greg Davies hosted the Gala.

South Tyneside Comedy Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

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

The Great Yorkshire Fringe

This festival normally takes place in July

A festival that takes place in the centre of York.

ZEAL: The Pride Improv Festival

This festival normally takes place in July

A week-long festival to celebrate Pride, ZEAL takes place from in early July in partnership with London's top improv organisations.

August 2018

Cornwall Comedy Festival

Friday 24th August to Sunday 26th August 2018

Also known as Stand Up In The Wylds. Located near Bude in North Cornwall. The 2017 festival was postponed due to bad weather.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Friday 3rd August to Monday 27th August 2018

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

Green Man

Thursday 16th August to Sunday 19th August 2018

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.

Reading & Leeds Festivals

Friday 24th August to Sunday 26th August 2018

The biggest music and comedy acts appear together at the same festival.

The Camden Fringe

This festival normally takes place in August

Running for a month in North London, this festival involves lots of comedians playing across 25 different venues. 2018 return has been confirmed, but dates still to be announced.