Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a comedy festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The comedy festival started in 2002 and is held annually in March in venues across the city. The festival's aim is to have the biggest impact of any comedy festival in the world. The festival promotes Glasgow as the funniest city in the world and look to celebrate comedy’s role in Scottish culture.[1]
Acts such as Kevin Bridges[2] and Susie McCabe have performed their first-ever solo shows at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
In 2019 the European Commission named Glasgow as the top cultural and creative city in the United Kingdom. The report cited the Comedy Festival alongside other cultural events as being integral to this status. The festival is recognised for playing host to a number of high-profile comedians alongside providing a platform for new acts.[3]
In 2014 the festival arranged for a comedy gig to be held on a Virgin Trains West Coast train service between London and Glasgow. Eight comedians including Patrick Monahan performed aboard a 'comedy carriage' of an afternoon service.[4]
Comedy performances linked to charity fundraising have also been a common occurrence during the years of the festival. Most notably Kevin Bridges headlined an event to raise funds for MND Scotland in memory of campaigner Gordon Aikman raising £25,000.[5] [6]
The festival organisers have aimed to widen the appeal of the festival to new audiences through accessibility improvements in recent years. In 2017 the festival hosted a show delivered in British sign language, understood to be the first of its kind in the UK and in 2020 a dementia friendly comedy gig will be held in the city's west end.[7]
For the 2023 festival, a new award was introduced. The Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award is the only award given out by the festival.[8] The inaugural winner was Janey Godley.[9]