Carlow’s first comedy festival has the last laugh
Comedian Kevin McGahern on stage in the Seven Oaks Hotel
OVER 500 people attended the four nights of live comedy in Carlow town last weekend, which was organised as part of – Festival of Glow.
The first-of-its-kind festival was held across multiple venues in Carlow town between Thursday and Sunday, 11-14 December, with more than 13 established and emerging comedians taking to the stage. All but one event sold out.
“It was something different for the town,” said Brian Dooley of Scraggs Alley. “There’s definitely a hunger there for a comedy festival.” Shannon Basso Gaule, a local comedian who helped to organise the event with the Local Enterprise Office and Carlow Co Council, agreed that “there’s a massive appetite” for early evening events in Carlow.
“Carlow is a good town for comedy – people get it and they like getting out. The audiences were great, really supportive,” he said, his voice hoarse from hosting all five events over the weekend.
The festival opened on Thursday night at Teach Dolman with , setting an energetic tone for the weekend. On Friday, the programme moved to the Seven Oaks Hotel, where performances by Neil Delamere, Martin Angolo and Kevin McGahern drew around 300 people. Fred Cooke, Jason Brennan, Edwin Sammon and Kev Larney animated Scraggs Alley on Saturday night.
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Two events on Sunday topped off the festival: an evening performance at The Barracks featuring Emma Doran, Aideen McQueen and Emman Idama, followed by at Tully’s, a fitting finale.
“It surpassed expectations,” said Shannon. “I was really surprised by the whole thing going so smoothly.” He credited the organisational support from LEO and the council for it going so well. “It was exactly what I wanted in terms of set up, so hats off to them.
“The highlight really was the enthusiasm shown from venues, audiences and everyone working in it. People were happy it was happening and there was a buzz around the town.
“It wasn’t like people emptied out of the venues; they stayed around, hanging out, talking to the comedians,” he said.
The organisers said the festival contributed significantly to the town’s night-time economy and raised funds for the Pan Celtic International Festival 2026.
“I’m delighted that it worked out for everyone,” said Brian Dooley. “It was great as a community development between us all; the venues working hand-in-hand, rather than seeing each other as rivals day-to-day. It benefited the town.” Brian and Shannon agreed that the work ethic and cross-promotion between venues in the town was “great to see”.
As for future plans: “If this year is anything to go by, there’s no reason why we couldn’t do it again,” said Shannon.
