GLASGOW SMILES BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE!
Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival breaks records in 2010
More acts, more tickets, more comedy fans and much more laughter – the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival has had its most successful year ever.
Bucking the trend of the economic downturn and proving that people love to laugh, festival organisers have reported a bumper year for the city’s much loved event.
2010 marked the eighth year of the festival, with a record 379 events over 19 days (11-29 March). This year’s event had more tickets available than ever before – a whopping 111,500 – and sales were up 8% year-on-year.
So popular was this year’s festival that a host of extra shows were added to the programme to meet demand, with eager comedy lovers snapping up tickets to bonus performances from the likes of Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle.
Tommy Sheppard, Director of the Scottish Comedy Agency, the company behind the festival, said: “Each year the festival just keeps getting bigger and better and these results underline its status as not only the biggest all-round entertainment event in Glasgow covering all forms of comedy including stand-up, sketch, music, theatre, puppetry, poetry, films, animation and workshops, but also the biggest festival solely dedicated to comedy in Europe.”
Rob Calder, Marketing Manager for the festival’s title sponsors, Magners, said: “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed another year working with the Comedy Festival, and are delighted that it's been such a great success for the city and for Magners. Comedy has always been a key element for the development of the brand, so we’re very proud to be part of such a significant event for Glasgow.”
Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “As in previous years, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau worked closely with the Comedy Festival team to help maximise awareness of the event and generate customers through strategic financial and marketing support, including a programme of media visits.
“We are delighted that the 2010 event has broken all records and we welcome the positive economic impact and increase in visitor numbers that it brings to the city of Glasgow.”
Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer at EventScotland, the national events agency, said: “Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival has grown significantly over the past eight years to become one of the most well attended and highly acclaimed comedy festivals in the UK. EventScotland has supported the Comedy Festival since 2007 and these fantastic results reinforce the festival’s standing as a world-class cultural event.”
With advance ‘taster’ showcases for the festival held in both London and New York, the international aspect of the event continued to go from strength to strength in 2010 with acts from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Ireland journeying to Glasgow to take part.
The festival also continued its strong commitment to help nurture local and emerging talents, with a host of both up-and-coming and well established Scottish and UK talent stepping up to the mic.
With a fellow Glaswegian (Billy Connolly) being named at the top of two recent polls to find the public’s favourite stand-up comedian, the news of another successful year for the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival proves that Glasgow really is ‘smiles better’!
Ends
Notes to Editors….
Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival…
- The Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival was established in 2003 and is now in its eighth year.
- Magners Irish Cider has been the title sponsor since 2007.
- The Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival is also supported by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Glasgow City Council, EventScotland and VisitScotland.
- The festival is organised by the Scottish Comedy Agency, a sister company of Salt’n’Sauce Promotions Ltd, which owns and operates the highly successful Stand Comedy Clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau…
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau is the official destination marketing organisation (DMO) for metropolitan Glasgow. It is engaged in national and international activity comprising: development and implementation of the city branding campaign
Glasgow: Scotland with style; event creation, attraction, management and marketing; conventions, incentives, meetings and exhibition sales; accommodation bookings, public relations and optimisation of the website:
www.seeglasgow.com
EventScotland…
- EventScotland is the national events agency.
- EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.
- For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit
www.EventScotland.org
Issued by Beattie Communications on behalf of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
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