This year, the Glasgow International Comedy Festival is heading into its 11th year. The festival runs from 14th to 31st March, with over 350 shows due to take place across 40 venues in the city, catering to a diverse range of taste, age and budget.
With a stellar comedy cast year after year, the reputation of the festival is legendary. Amongst this year’s performers are comedy greats including Sean Lock, Jimmy Carr, Al Murray and Harry Hill, as well as a number of local comedians.
Now the largest festival of its kind in Europe, the festival grew from humble beginnings. Its objective from the start was to provide a first-class programme of entertainment for the residents of its city. Over ten years later, and this objective is still at the heart of the festival, with comedy ranging from the contemporary to the more traditional.
If you’re a fan of international comedy, this is one event that you simply cannot afford to miss.
Getting to Glasgow
For those living in the south of England, the thought of getting to Glasgow can be daunting. It’s one helluva drive, or an expensive train journey. Coupled with the inevitable traffic and train delays, getting to Glasgow can seem too much hassle.
But there is a viable alternative. With flights taking a meagre 40 minutes, and numerous cheap flights between London and Glasgow, why not fly instead? With a number of cost-effective and hassle-free parking options at Stansted Airport, travel between London and Glasgow is easy. So you can forget about everything else and concentrate on the comedy instead. Get ready to sit back and listen some funny (and often incredibly crude) jokes.
Glasgow Attractions
Although the International Comedy Festival is the main event in March, it’s by no means the only reason to visit. Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow is a vibrant city, renowned for its culture, style, and friendliness.
Crowned European City of Culture in 1990, and UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999, Glasgow is full of attractions making it a fantastic place for a city break.
The city houses a range of art galleries and museums, including Kelvingrove, home to one of Europe’s finest art collections, and the Burrell Collection – at over 8,000 objects, thisis one of the greatest donated collections in the world.
If you fancy leaving the city behind, there are numerous tours departing from George Square to whisk you away to Scotland’s stunning mountains, lochs and castles, including Loch Ness, Haunting Glencoe, Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond.
Even if the namesaren’t familiar, the sights will be. Glencoe is the location for the famous Tri-Wizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, filmed here in 2005. So while part of your family are in stitches at a venue in central Glasgow, the rest of your brood will be running amok in the Scottish Highlands, playing Quidditch and shooting fake spells at each other.
If you’re still unsure about whether a trip to the Glasgow International Comedy Festival is for you, watch the videobelow of comedian John Moloney complaining about his cat. A warning though – he drops the f-bomb a few times, so the video is definitely NSFW!