News Beat
York Comedy Festival back as part of Live at Museum Gardens
York Comedy Festival has announced that it will return to York Museum Gardens this summer after the success of last year’s Live at Museum Gardens series.
In a post shared to Facebook today (January 18), Live at York Museum Gardens has revealed that the comedy festival will be held again this year with an announcement set to take place at tomorrow at 4pm.
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This follows the news that Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Mercy Prize nominated artist Self Esteem will perform in Museum Gardens during the second weekend in July.
Last year’s comedy festival – which was part of the four day festival, which turned the city centre park into a live entertainment venue- saw award-winning comedian, broadcaster and writer Dara Ó Briain and Canadian comedian, broadcaster and writer Katherine Ryan co-headline Museum Gardens on Sunday, July 6, 2025.
Maisie Adam, Joel Dommett, Clinton Baptiste, Angelos Epithemiou, Vittorio Angelone, Scott Bennett also performed at the festival – which was the final night after three days of live music.
Manchester band Elbow took to the stage in front of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey to open the festival on Thursday night (July 3) with reviewer Gareth John calling their performance as a celebration of the band’s 34 years together writing in The Press,
Disco legend Nile Rodgers and Chic followed for a headline performance on Friday (July 4) and Sheffield singer-songwriter Richard Hawley headlined Saturday night’s (July 5) slot.
Speaking to The Press last year, Kathryn Blacker, chief executive of York Museums Trust which manages Museum Gardens, said it had been “such an amazing few days of live music and entertainment”.
“The concerts were enjoyed by thousands in the stunning setting of the gardens, abbey ruins and the Yorkshire Museum,” she said
“The partnership with the organisers Futuresound has been very positive and we are delighted to have hosted such iconic performers in our spaces.
“These events form part of our wider programme of activities in the gardens and the Yorkshire Museum each year and help York Museums Trust to invest back into our spaces, community activities and in keeping the gardens looking beautiful.”
A spokesperson for the Futuresound Group added it is “so excited about the possibility of continuing to create incredible live entertainment experiences in the Museum Gardens”, adding: “We can’t wait to get started on next year’s series.”
Museum Gardens, they said, “provides us with one of the most beautiful backdrops for live music and comedy you could hope for.”
The spokesperson added that the festival was “full of incredible moments and we’re very grateful to all the people, suppliers and local businesses who helped make these shows happen”.
