Draft:Belfast comedy festival

Northern Ireland has a strong tradition in humour and the local comedy industry has grown with the rise of new clubs and a diverse range of performers and genres. This is also reflected across the UK and Ireland with the popularity of celebrity comedians and rise of female comedians (though still under-represented).

In response a comedy festival was established in Belfast to help promote the local comedy scene in 2011. Unfortunately in closed in 2017 due to funding cuts.

During the 6 annual festivals, over 280 events were organised with a total audience approaching 50,000 people. Over £750,000 was generated for the local economy in average audience spend with approximately £120,000 spent on local services and contractors from ticket sales and public grant income and approximately £450,000 generated for local venues, contractors and suppliers.

The most recent festival in 2017 involved 52 events in 15 venues during 2 – 8 October. Approximately 17,000 audience members attended these events and with an 82% increase in audience numbers compared to the previous festival with 48% of the total audience attending the festival for the first time.

Given the history and vitality of humour in Northern Ireland there is a strong case for for the development of a comedy festival to help develop the local comedy scene as it could be a major creative and economic driver for Belfast in particular with tourism, health, good relations, and other benefits.