BBC Comedy Festival will be in Cardiff on 24th to 26th May
- The BBC Comedy Festival 2023 will be in Cardiff from Wednesday 24th to Friday 26th May
- The day featuring sessions and advice for those looking to break into the industry is the Friday
- Further details on the schedule will be announced later. There will be a BCG Pro meet-up on the Friday night
The second annual BBC Comedy Festival - which features sessions for comedy creatives - will take place in Cardiff from Wednesday 24th to Friday 26th May.
The BBC confirm: "Following on from the success of the inaugural BBC Comedy Festival in Newcastle in May 2022, Cardiff has been named the new BBC City of Comedy and will be playing host to the Comedy Festival from Wednesday 24th - Friday 26th May.
"The BBC Comedy Festival is an opportunity to gather the component parts of the comedy industry together and remind the outside world that British comedy is one of our greatest cultural triumphs.
"Across three days there will be a series of talent-led talks, panels, screenings, a short film night, live comedy shows, BBC Sounds recordings and an exclusive screening and Q&A for BBC Three comedy Man Like Mobeen."
Bisha K Ali, Jesse Armstrong, Tom Basden, Peter Baynham, Rob Brydon, Jamie Demetriou, Sharon Horgan, Guz Khan, Kayleigh Llewellyn, Nida Manzoor, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Diane Morgan, Mawaan Rizwan, Danielle Vitalis, Holly Walsh and Katy Wix will be amongst those in attendance.
There will also be a host of established comedy producers taking part in the sessions such as Kenton Allen (Big Talk), Ash Atalla (Roughcut), Phil Clarke (Various Artists Ltd) and Nerys Evans (Expectation).
Much like the Newcastle festival, some sessions will be for established comedy professionals only, however the Friday will be open to those looking to build their comedy career.
The BBC explains: "The BBC Comedy Festival is a chance for producers, both established and new, and those taking their first steps in the TV industry, to come and reflect, celebrate, and explore comedy in the UK. On Thursday the sessions will be largely industry focused, and Friday will be more geared towards those wishing to break into the industry.
"A selection of the festival's panels and events will be opened up for the public to attend, and the free tickets will be made available in due course once the schedule has been announced via Sherman Theatre."
Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy, says: "Following on from the success of the BBC Comedy Festival last year, we are looking forward to bringing the UK's finest comedy minds to Cardiff, in May, to inspire, celebrate and talk seriously about comedy - a crucial part of British culture."
Further details on the festival schedule will be announced in due course.
BCG Pro will be in attendance and will organise a meet-up for BCG Pro members on the evening of Friday 26th May (Register). Before Cardiff, there is the Big Comedy Conference, which is open to all comedy writers and takes place on Saturday 22nd April in London.
This article is provided for free as part of BCG Pro.
Subscribe now for exclusive features, insight, learning materials, opportunities and other tools for the British comedy industry.