Leith Comedy Festival Takes Place October 2023

The first full Leith Comedy Festival will take place in popular live venues and community hubs across Leith this October.

Leith Comedy Festival is a brand new comedy festival in Leith which was supposed to launch in October 2020. After a tumultuous few years, it is at last taking place this October, three years later than planned and organisers are delighted to reveal the programme.

Rosalind Romer, Director of Leith Comedy Festival says “I’m so excited the first weekend Leith Comedy Festival is finally happening! I have been planning it for so long, and all the events I put on during the pandemic have been leading up to this. The Leith community has been so supportive, and I believe the programme reflects the creativity and humour of Leith. They’ll be the first to tell me if it doesn’t!”

All of the acts are Scottish or based in Scotland. All shows will have a 5pm open spot from a local new act. The Scottish comedy scene is stronger than ever.

The line ups for opening and closing galas are:

  • Opening Night Gala lineup (6th Oct): Marjolein Robertson (headliner), Joe McTernan, Billy Kirkwood MC
  • Closing Night Gala lineup (8th Oct): Jamie MacDonald (headliner), Kathleen Hughes, Liam Withnail MC

Headliner Jamie MacDonald says: “It’s great news that Leith has finally gotten its own comedy festival! It’s always been a brilliant place to do standup. I’m so excited to be headlining its closing gala night.”

As well as world-class stand-up, there are different types of comedy available, from storytelling to laughter yoga. There are also various ways to access laughs, whether it’s the free online pre-recorded tour, outdoor live tours, or with the whole family.

Life is expensive at the moment so it’s important that there are pay-what-you-can tickets for every show. Organisers are encouraging those who can afford it to use the pay-it-forward option when buying tickets. This creates more pay-what-you-can tickets across the whole festival.

This festival has been built from the ground up from within the community, rather than picking a place and bringing in some comedy. This festival only works in Leith. The suppliers are here. The profits stay here, in Leith itself where possible.

Leith Comedy Festival has been made possible by the support of The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and Firstport.

Head of Theatre at Creative Scotland, Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, said: “Events such as Leith Comedy Festival which are firmly rooted in their local community are the bedrock of cultural celebration.  More than ever, we are drawn to live performance in the company of others, energised by the collective experience.

“Thanks to support from The National Lottery players, Leith Comedy Festival’s programme has something for all ages, whether that’s discovering the latest comedy talent, diving into a session of laughter yoga or teaming up for a themed quiz night.  This showcases the variety of activity and local-level investment that the Creative Scotland Open Fund supports throughout the year.”

Background

Leith Comedy Festival is a brand new comedy festival in Leith which was supposed to launch in October 2020. After a tumultuous few years, it is at last taking place this October, three years later than planned.

There are three strands:

  1. Leith Comedy Festival will be an annual event in October, with multiple comedy events in all its forms over a weekend, for example, stand-up, family shows and workshops.
  2. Leith Comedy Festival Presents… are individual comedy gigs throughout the year, showcasing the funniest comedians around, particularly standups based in Scotland.
  3. Leith Comedy Festival Community events are individual events throughout the year in partnership with local charities and social enterprises, for example, comedy performance workshops with Citadel Youth Centre.

Rosalind Romer is Edinburgh born and bred, and has lived in Leith since 2013. She has worked in the comedy industry for over 20 years. From being a Perrier Judge to managing Jimmy Carr’s tours, to producing comedy shows in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and London’s West End theatres, she knows comedy and wants to create a new model of comedy festival.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot

Firstport is here to support individuals all across Scotland to start, develop and grow their ideas into businesses with social impact at their core. Firstport is a registered charity and started work in 2007 to help social entrepreneurs bring forward their ideas and to make them happen. Since then we have grown and evolved, supported thousands of individuals and distributed millions of pounds of start-up funding, all with the aim to achieve our vision:

Social enterprises play a key role in society, transforming lives, communities and the economy.

Media contacts

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