Bath Comedy Festival

New Act Competition 2026

Christopher Donovan wins this year's Newcomer Award

First place: Christopher Donovan
Second place: Rich Bunn
Joint third place: Victoria Blunt & Ollie Young

Full details here

Music Gigs

Festival Director Nick Steel also promotes live music.

Nick continues to present top-class musicians in Bath and is proud to help buck the trend of grassroots music venues disappearing from the cultural map.

The Belvoir Castle is a new favourite venue for live music — it's a proper pub with friendly staff, affordable drinks and a great atmosphere, plus home to Pollocks, the best fish and chips in town!

Live bands every Friday night from 8.30pm, with no entry charge and a great line-up of local and touring talent. See the music diary for details, but highlights include some of the best blues musicians in the country, plus a variety of other genres including rock, folk, Americana and more.

View the Music Events Diary and details

Please help our crowd fund for Bath Comedy Festival – donate here

Dear Bath Comedy Supporters,

It has been a Herculean task to wean the public back to live performances over recent years, and no one could have worked harder to keep the Festival going through a horrendous period for live entertainment. But there is a limit to how long hand-to-mouth survival can sustain things.

We're already busy programming future festivals and year-round shows, and we're appealing for your help to ensure the survival of Bath Comedy — an essential annual part of Bath’s cultural offering, and something that would be sorely missed if it disappeared.

Bath has so much more to offer than its beautiful old buildings — let's do our best to keep Bath's cultural and comedic heart beating.

Here are some memorable moments from recent shows:

Pledge your support online — click here to donate to the crowd fund

Aside from the crowd fund, our Friends of the Festival scheme is another way to support — sign up for £75 a year to enjoy invitations to VIP receptions, discounted tickets, advance notice of popular events and a chance to win your money back. See below.

All monies received will go to artists and the direct costs of bringing more laughter to Bath.

With huge thanks for your support.

Nick Steel, Festival Director

Pledge your support online — click here to donate to the crowd fund

Henning says…

See what German Comedy Ambassador Henning Wehn had to say about supporting Bath Comedy.

Become a Friend of the Festival

The Festival is not regularly funded and relies on support from sponsors, supporters and audiences.

Join our merry band of Friends for an annual £75 and enjoy benefits including:

• Invitations to exclusive VIP receptions
• 'Thank you' accreditation on our website and printed programme
• Concession-rate tickets for selected events
• Early notice of special events
• Membership of a generous group helping secure the Festival’s long-term future

If you would simply like to donate, please use the other checkout option below. All contributions are very gratefully received and go towards bringing more laughter and live performance to Bath.

Nick Steel's Radio Interviews

Listen to a selection of Nick’s recent radio interviews, plus interviews with some famous performers.

Nick says:

I’m always excited about what we have in store for upcoming Bath Comedy shows, and proud that we not only survived the pandemic and lockdown periods, but still managed to stage over 60 shows in 2020 and over 75 in 2021, when very little else was happening, before returning with full Bath Comedy Festivals every year since.

Bath Comedy has won a Bath Life Award and Bath Business Award, and has also been a finalist in recent Bath Life Awards, Creative Bath Awards and Bath Business Awards.