Southampton is gearing up for the biggest comedy festival the city has ever seen.
Venues within the city’s BID (Business Improvement District) have pledged to lay on five days of comedy events in the lead up to Comedy Central Live!
Stand up shows, comedy film nights and a drag-hosted quiz night are just some of the evenings planned in a bid to get the city warmed up for a weekend of comedy.
Comedy Central Live! takes place from October 5 and will see many of the biggest names in comedy descend on the city for a brand-new, three-day comedy festival in Hoglands Park. Jimmy Carr, Russell Howard and Katherine Ryan are among those performing.
To celebrate the event coming to the city and warm residents up for a week of laughter, GO! Southampton is running a fringe festival – Go Giggle – in the lead up to and during the event.
With an expectation that Go Giggle will grow in future years, it has arranged for venues within the city’s BID area to lay on their own comedy events, with many free to attend and others charging only a small entry fee. There will also be street entertainers popping up at locations across the city and the event is being supported by Southampton City Council.
Heidi Isa, marketing director at GO! Southampton, said: “We are incredibly excited that our work to bring a major event to Southampton has resulted in Comedy Central holding its first ever three-day comedy festival in city. To celebrate, we’re pulling out all the stops to make it a huge success. Go Giggle will see popular venues across the city open their doors to comedy-goers and get people truly geared up for a weekend of laughter.”
Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Culture, Councillor Satvir Kaur said: “Southampton is a place where something is always happening. Having some of the biggest names in comedy coming to our city as part of this first Comedy Central Live event is fantastic news, and adds to an already packed calendar of diverse and vibrant activities throughout the year.
“We were keen for comedy to be enjoyed and celebrated by as many as possible during this time and are proud to have supported Go Southampton to bring Go Giggle. I hope local people and visitors alike take advantage of these amazing events.”
Comedy Central Live! would not be taking place in Southampton without the hard work of GO! Southampton. The organisation, which works to improve the city’s BID area, put forward a successful case for the city to host the comedy giant’s first live festival. It means Southampton will benefit from the thousands of visitors the event is expected to bring, fuelling the economy and putting the city on the map.
For a full list of comedy events taking place as part of Go Giggle, which starts on Sunday September 30, visit the Go Giggle website.
For more information on Comedy Central Live! and to book tickets visit https://comedycentral.ticketline.co.uk/