Laughterama 2023: Huge comedy festival returning to Manchester – with headliners Ed Gamble, Alan Davies, Sarah Pascoe and more

Laughterama festival is returning to Manchester this September with a lineup packed full of some of the biggest names in British comedy.

The five-day festival takes place at the Castlefield Bowl open-air amphitheatre in the city centre from Wednesday 6 September - Sunday 10 September. Each night, a mix of household names and rising stars comedians will take to the stage to perform their latest material.

There will also be a whole variety of food stalls and a bar, meaning festival-goers can really make a night of it.

Who is on the line-up?

The festival opening night starts off strong with a solo show from writer, comedian and podcast host Adam Buxton. He will be performing his long-running show Bug, in which he examines some of the weirdest music videos on the internet and delves into the comment sections beneath them.

Ed Gamble, co-host of the Off Menu food podcast, is headlining next on Wednesday 6 September, followed by Taskmaster season 14 star Fern Brady, panel show regular Maisie Adams and newcomer Kyra Gray. The evening is also hosted by podcast and comedian John Robins.

There are even more Taskmaster stars on the bill for Thrsday 8 September, including headliner Phil Wang, eccentric comedy poet and Witchfinder actor Tim Key, and Ivo Graham, who came in last place on the latest series, will be hosting. Also performing will be rising star Ania Magliano, and Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Amy Gledhill.

Headlining Friday 9 September is QI stalwart Alan Davies, followed by Mash Report host Rachel Parris, Celya AB, Rhys James and Strictly star Jayde Adams will be hosting.

There will be two shows per day for the final two days on Saturday and Sunday. The first show on Saturday will be headlined by Sewing Bee host Sarah Pascoe, followed by ventriloquist Nina Conti, newcomer Sharon Wanjohi and viral sensation Troy Hawke. It will be hosted by Kiri Pritchard-Mclean.

Black Books star Dylan Moran is headlining the Saturday evening show, followed by Shaparak Khorsandi, Peep Show star Isy Suttie and Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and viral sensation Josh Pugh, with Manchester’s own Josh Jones hosting.

Russel Kane tops the bill for the first Sunday show, alongside Ardal O’Hanlon, Manchester’s very own British Comedian Of The Year 2022 winner Dan Tiernan, multi-award winning Sikisa and hosted by Suzi Ruffell.

Finally, headlining the final show of the festival will be David O’Doherty, accompanied by his little keyboard, followed by Lou Sanders, fast-rising newcomer Tadiwa Mahlunge and hosted by Live At The Apollo star Sarah Keyworth. There is also another special guest star yet to be announced.

Food stalls

The gates will open around an hour before each show, so there will be plenty of time to get some drinks and food from one of the many vendors.

This year you can expect to see Manchester favourites, including Seitan’s Kebabs, plant-based Mexican street food by Nina’s Taco Truck, Greek gyros by Eat Like A Greek, snacks by Charlie Macs, award-winning Posh Street Food,Pink Nachos, authentic Dutch pancakes from Lekker Eat Dutch and everyone’s favourite Ravenous Fudge. There will also be coffee from True Start.

How to get tickets and how much do they cost?

Tickets for each show can be bought individually via the Laughterama website. All tickets are £25 per person, apart from Adam Buxton’s opening show, which costs £20.