York Comedy Festival

The York Comedy Festival returns to York Museum Gardens on Sunday 12 July, its second edition after a sell-out debut in July 2025. It's an all-day outdoor festival, part of the 'Live at York Museum Gardens' series, which is now in its third year of bringing concerts and comedy into the city centre.

Ross Noble and Russell Howard headline the bill, with Russell Kane, Joanne McNally, Suzi Ruffell, Jeff Innocent, Nabil Abdulrashid and Barry from Watford (Alex Lowe) also performing. Jarred Christmas hosts the day, keeping things moving between the sets. It's a full day of stand-up rather than a single evening, so you'll get a good few hours of comedy in one go.

The venue itself is one of the city's proper landmarks. York Museum Gardens was founded in the 1830s and covers over ten acres of botanic gardens in the heart of town, with the ruins of St Mary's Abbey as the backdrop and the Yorkshire Museum inside. It welcomes around 1.3 million visitors a year, and this festival is one of the times it's used for a proper event rather than just a stroll.

Behind the scenes, the festival is a collaboration between the Leeds-based Futuresound Group and York Museums Trust. They describe their aim as bringing musical legends and stand-up stars to the city while giving regional talent a platform to play alongside them. The whole thing runs on Sunday 12 July at York Museum Gardens.