Return of the Cambridge Comedy Festival
The Cambridge Comedy Festival is back, presenting the UK’s first ever all-comedy three-day festival with camping.
Since its launch in 2007, the popular event has been held at various locations around Cambridge, including the Junction and the Corn Exchange.
This time, however, it will take place outdoors and be expanded into a fully-fledged festival, where fans can enjoy the return of live comedy in a safer outdoor open-air environment with 150 acts performing across four stages.
The event will be held on Grange Farm in Abbots Ripton, near Huntingdon – where the Secret Garden Party festival was previously held – a beautiful countryside location and landscaped site that lends itself well to a comedy festival.
As well as the comedians – which range from household names to the very best circuit acts to left-field fringe acts – there will also be live podcast shows, family/children’s shows, food and drink and, after the comedy has finished each evening, there will be comedians having a go at DJing in the Glade Bar area. If that isn’t enough, there is also a freshwater swimming lake on site.
The festival is the brainchild of Andy White, the promoter behind the Jesterlarf Comedy Club, which has been running for 18 years at various locations up and down the country.
He said: “With no live comedy since March last year, I really wanted to create an event that would give all the amazing acts out there an opportunity to get back on stage and not only do what they do best but also what they love doing – entertaining and making people laugh.
“And for all the fans of comedy out there, an event where they get to watch all the very best acts in one place, but also an event where they can feel safe and be outdoors.
“Obviously creating such an ambitious event which will basically be the UK’s first ever all-comedy three-day festival with camping is a huge project and I guess I must be a bit bonkers attempting it during the world’s worst pandemic for 100 years, but what the heck, we’re going for it anyway, as we all need a good laugh and weekend away.”
Names announced for the 14th Cambridge Comedy Festival include Rob Beckett, Dara Ó Briain, Nina Conti, Ed Byrne, Gary Delaney, Reginald D Hunter, Russell Kane, Sindu Vee, Milton Jones and Al Murray – plus the very best of the UK’s stand-up circuit comedians such as Jarred Christmas, Rosie Jones, Andrew Maxwell, Jen Brister, Larry Dean, Mike Gunn, Maisie Adam, Paul Foot and Ian Stone.
The festival will run from Friday, July 9 to Sunday, July 11. Rob Beckett, who last graced the event in 2016, will headline the Friday night, Dara Ó Briain will take centre stage on the Saturday night, and Al Murray will close the proceedings on the Sunday night.
For more information, visit cambridgecomedyfestival.com.
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