The Catskills Comedy Festival, 2026
Downtown Catskill becomes one big comedy club during the third annual Catskills Comedy Festival, taking place October 16–18, 2026. The three-day festival brings nationally known performers, rising talent and Hudson Valley favorites to seven walkable venues, with stand-up, improv, musical and alt-comedy, films, panels, family entertainment and free workshops.
Events take place at the historic Community Theatre, Avalon Lounge, Bridge Street Theatre and other downtown venues. Proceeds support free, year-round arts programming for local youth. Come for one show or make a weekend of it.
Friday begins with the Opening Night Kick-Off at 7 PM, hosted by Ophira Eisenberg—former host of NPR’s Ask Me Another and a longtime performer with The Moth—and featuring Jocelyn Chia and Raanan Hershberg, whose special was named among The New York Times’ best comedy of 2022. At 9:15 PM, audiences can choose between Sean Patton, seen on HBO’s Hacks and FX’s English Teacher, and SiriusXM and Broadway personality John Hill’s musical comedy show Silk and Loose.
Saturday features daytime panels, films and family programming before the 7 PM MainStage headliner show with Netflix’s Jared Freid, Variety “Comic to Watch” Tina Friml and Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live writer Alex English. Late-night shows include rising stand-up Nico Carney and the wonderfully strange circus, burlesque and comedy spectacle A Schticky Situation.
Sunday offers free and participatory events—including a kids’ open mic, comedy punch-up and festival open mic—followed by Havana Club improv and the Squalid Gold comedy showcase.
Full schedule and tickets at tccfest.org.
