Stars lined up for Glasgow comedy festival's 16th birthday

Alexei Sayle, Ed Byrne, David Baddiel, Bridget Christie and Mark Thomas will be among the big-name performers at the forthcoming Glasgow International Comedy Festival, organisers have revealed.

Alexei Sayle will be among the special guests at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival in March.

A record 54 venues will be hosting more than 500 shows between them during the 16th annual event, which will also feature the likes of Mark Steel, Shappi Khorsandi, Tom Allen, Richard Herring, Phill Jupitus, and Robin Ince

Leading Scottish comics in the line-up include Brian “Limmy” Limond, Fern Brady, Iain Stirling, Fred MacAulay, Craig Hill, Janey Godley, Richard Gadd and Mark Nelson.

A comedy crawl will take audiences around four bars in the city’s west end to see different performers, while a round-the-clock roadshow will take place over 12 hours.

More than 100,000 tickets are on sale for the forthcoming festival, which runs from 8-25 March.

It will include a series of special workshops for budding comedians which are being staged to coincide with Scotland’s Year of Young People.

Festival director Sarah Watson said: “As the festival grows, we’re proud to showcase diverse voices, styles and art forms.

“It’s great to have two exhibitions in the programme and we’re hugely pleased to welcome eight new venues, including Tramway, Glasgow School of Art and the Science Centre.”