At Southport Comedy Festival audiences have been loving seeing some of the UK’s top comedians, the variety of shows to choose from – and also the very stylish venue.
For the past five years, Southport Comedy Festival has hosted its gigs inside a huge luxury marquee provided by Elite Marquees at Victoria Park, home of the world famous Southport Flower Show.
The festival was previously held at a variety of venues throughout the town before organisers set up home at the park.
The marquee has now become an integral part of the festival, much-loved by audiences and performers alike.
Southport Comedy Festival Director Brendan Riley said: “We are now well established at Victoria Park so most of our audiences know exactly what to look forward to, and it’s fantastic to see so many people coming back to see gigs this year.
“We have eight sold out shows already, which has been brilliant. We definitely made the right decision in coming here.
“Most visitors love this venue now and enjoy coming back year after year. There are still some people who have not been before and sometimes ask us questions about what it’s like to see a show in our festival marquee?
“One person asked ‘is it in a tent’? Someone else asked if they came and stood in a field? Someone else asked if we had heating? Or if we had any chairs?
“If you come and experience a show you won’t be disappointed! It’s a beautiful venue for stand-up comedy.
“It’s a really warm and cosy environment and makes for a fabulous atmosphere. There are twinkling lights on the ceiling, to give you the impression you’re watching gigs beneath the stars.
“The sound and the lighting are excellent.
“We’d like to thank Mark and his team from Elite Marquees, who do a fantastic job providing us with a top class, luxury marquee which is truly impressive. The experience just gets better every year.
“The marquee is fully heated; it is carpeted throughout; we have seating; we have lighting.
“It is made up of two huge marquees which are joined together so we have a performance area and a bar area with a wide range of drinks available.
“Come and enjoy some delicious hot dogs courtesy of Willow Catering during the pre-show and interval.
“There is a fully licensed bar courtesy of Elite Bars with snacks and hot drinks available. Come down when the doors open and enjoy some pre-show drinks and something to eat.
“It’s a brilliant venue.”
Elite Events Director Mark Dilley said: “Southport Comedy Festival has been brilliant this year! There have been some superb shows.
“This is our fifth year of creating this venue at Victoria Park and every year we keep seeing what we can do to make the experience even better.
“It really does wow everyone when they walk in! We have had so much fantastic feedback from visitors.
“The main marquee has a capacity of 500 people and there have been eight full sold-out shows already with others not far off so audiences definitely love the venue! The festival has been very busy.
“This year we have made the bar area into a pub style marquee, with lots of tables where people can sit down and have a catch up before the gig or during the interval.
“We are operating the bar at the event through our venture, Elite Bars. We have up to 12 members of staff serving people at any one time.
“We have put up two of our marquees at Victoria Park – the main festival marquee is 15 metres by 45 metres, while the bar marquee is 12 metres by 30 metres. They took our team seven days to install.
“Once Southport Comedy Festival is finished the marquees will stay up, and we will transform the inside space so it’s ready to host our Southport Oktoberfest event on 24th and 25th October, which is going to be amazing.”
Elite Marquees provides a range of marquees suitable for a range of events.
The team offers clients in-depth advice to meet the many varied needs of your event, whether that’s organising a party in your Cheshire garden, a wedding in Manchester or corporate event in Liverpool, to working with organisers of major events including county shows and festivals.
More acts still to come at Southport Comedy Festival include American comedy legend Rich Hall (Friday 17th October 2025), high-energy festival favourite Jason Byrne, (Saturday 18th October 2025) and Irish Comedy Queen Deirdre O’Kane (Sunday 19th October 2025).
The entire festival is being staged in a giant luxury heated and seated marquee courtesy of Elite Events in Victoria Park, home of Southport Flower Show.
- Visit southportcomedyfestival.com for full line-up, information and direct links to book tickets.
- For more details about Elite Marquee visit: Marquee Hire | Elite Marquees | Merseyside | Cheshire | Lancashire
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