List of Comedy Festivals
Here is a list of the main comedy festivals in the UK.
January
Slapstick Festival (Bristol)
An annual celebration of slapstick comedy.
Vault Festival (London)
Running across several months early in the year, Vault Festival is described as "London's answer to Edinburgh's Fringe". Returns in 2022.
February
Edinburgh International Improv Festival
Scotland's first and only festival of improv.
Leicester Comedy Festival
One of the country's biggest comedy festivals.
March
Glasgow International Comedy Festival
Many top names perform in Glasgow in March.
Norwich Fringe Festival
Arts festival held in Norwich.
The Laugharne Weekend
Arts festival, including comedy, held in South Wales.
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.
Coventry Comedy Festival
Many nights of laughs in Coventry.
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.
HowTheLightGetsIn (London)
Comedy from a range of great talent you might not yet have seen on television.
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.
June
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.
Glastonbury Festival
Comedians can always be found at Glastonbury in the various comedy-related performance areas.
Hastings Fringe Comedy Festival
The Hastings Fringe is an independent, free festival featuring a range of comedy stars.
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.
Wychwood Festival (Cheltenham)
Friday 4th June to Sunday 6th June
This festival's comedy offering is a small but perfectly-formed line-up.
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.
Brighton Comedy Garden
The first Brighton Comedy Garden plants its roots in June 2019 with five nights of stand-up.
Buxton Festival Fringe
Wednesday 7th July to Sunday 25th July
One of the largest open-access arts festivals in the country, providing three weeks of "friendly, supportive and affordable" entertainment each July.
Camp Bestival (Dorset)
Based around Lulworth Castle in Dorset, this festival normally books a couple of big headline comedy acts.
CH1 Chester Comedy Festival
First held in 2018, this comedy festival takes place each year in the historic North-Western city.
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.
Guildford Fringe Festival
Lots of comedy shows take place in Guildford 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)
Friday 22nd October to Sunday 23rd October
A two-day Edinburgh Fringe preview festival at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton, featuring big names, local acts and kids' shows.
Appearing: Bobby Mair, Catherine Young, Chris Lumb, Eddie French, Fran Garrity, John O'Sullivan, Phil Smith, Tony Law, Vaun Earl Norman
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 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)
Friday 27th August to Monday 30th August
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)
Thursday 5th August to Sunday 8th 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.
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
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.
Ludlow Fringe Festival
A bunch of comedy shows to enjoy in the Shropshire market town.
Macclesfield Comedy Festival
Saturday 7th August to Saturday 7th August
A festival taking place at Macclesfield Rugby Club.
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.
Rewind North (Cheshire)
Friday 6th August to Sunday 8th August
A three-part series of festivals covering the UK. This is the Northern instalment, taking place in Cheshire.
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.
The Camden Fringe
Monday 2nd August to Sunday 29th August
Running for a month in North London, this festival involves lots of comedians playing across 25 different venues.
Victorious Festival (Portsmouth)
Friday 27th August to Sunday 29th August
Victorious Festival launched its first comedy tent in 2018.
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.
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.
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.
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
Saturday 2nd October to Saturday 9th October
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.
Southport Comedy Festival
Featuring top acts, a Children's Comedy Festival, a competition for new comedians, and more.
Storyhouse Comedy Weekend (Chester)
A weekend of comedy in one venue, first held in October 2018.
November
Hull Comedy Festival
Fun across various venues in the centre of Hull.
Nottingham Comedy Festival
Nottingham Comedy Festival is an open access festival where acts of all levels and types of comedy are welcome to apply.