Festival and schemes to foster local talen

Cardiff has been named as the BBC’s City of Comedy for 2023.

The Welsh capital will now host a festival of comedy - a multi-day event for indie producers  and people looking to break into or advance their career in the industry  –  following the success of the first such event in Newcastle this year.

Cardiff will also host the BBC New Comedy Awards Final at on November 1, which will be broadcast on BBC One. Free tickets for the event at at St David’s Hall are available  here

The City of Comedy initiative aims to help find, nurture and connect new comedy talent in Wales with UK commissioners and the wider TV industry.  It inlcudes:

• Two funded short film nights including networking opportunities with the BBC Comedy commissioning team.
• A regional partnership scheme to pair an emerging Welsh  independent production company with a leading BBC Comedy supplier to boostproject development in the region.
• A guaranteed place in the BBC Comedy Bursary Collective. These consist of writing bursaries with Felix Dexter bursary, Caroline Aherne bursary, Galton and Simpson bursary plus the new producer and director bursaries, Further details will announced in early 2023.

Jon Petrie, director of comedy commissioning at the BBC, says: ‘We are excited to announce Cardiff as our second BBC City of Comedy in 2023. We are already seeing the continued and long-lasting impact the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne activity has had in the North East, and will be using the City of Comedy 2023 engagement to drive more scripted comedy production in Wales and to further Welsh portrayal in comedy, in front of and behind the camera.’

Gerwyn Evans, deputy director of Creative Wales added: ‘Today’s announcement is an amazing opportunity to showcase the comedy talent we have here in Wales and is also in line with Creative Wales’ ambitions to boost the sector.

‘We are really thankful to the BBC for choosing the Welsh capital as host city for the Comedy Festival event and New Comedy Awards Finals, not to mention the industry support being put in place.'

Dates of the comedy festival and further details of the various initiatives will be announced later.

Published: 25 Aug 2022