Before 2010, the beautiful Welsh market town of Machynlleth was perhaps best known for being the spot where Owain Glyndŵr set up his parliament during his bloody, ill-fated uprising against the English monarchy in the early 15th century. These days, however, the town has taken on a new, somewhat lighter guise, as the home of one of the UK’s great comedy festivals.
Interestingly, these two aspects of the town’s identity collide at the annual weekend-long fiesta in May, with one of the event’s primary venues being a large heritage centre named after the legendary Welsh leader.
But, as previous visitors to the festival will know, one of the real charms of the Machynlleth Comedy Festival is the way it envelops the entire town, hosting top-class comedians and comedy shows in an eclectic selection of local venues that range from theatre spaces to bowling clubs to school gymnasiums.
It’s this sense of quirkiness and intimacy that has helped to grow the festival’s reputation since its launch in 2010, with the British newspaper The Independent heralding it ‘a small but perfectly formed antidote to some of the more sprawling comedy festivals’. Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert, meanwhile, simply dubbed it, ‘one of the best festivals in the world’.
The 2026 edition of the annual event, which will take place from 1-3 May, appears set to only enhance this stellar reputation, with an impressively varied line up of performers across the weekend that includes TV comedy regulars, like James Acaster, Tim Key and Catherine Bohart, plus up-and-coming talent from around Wales and the UK.
While hundreds of individual comedy shows take place across Machynlleth, the festival’s main hub is at Y Plas, a manor house with extensive grounds a five-minute walk from the centre of town. Here, a free music and comedy programme runs throughout the weekend, complemented by a fully-stocked bar offering 50 different ales. There are also activities for younger comedy lovers at the designated children’s tent.
Learn more about this year’s festival offering, and how to get tickets to individual events, on the Machynlleth Comedy Festival website.
Alternatively, discover more of the major events taking place in Wales throughout the year.