Edinburgh Festival regulars are littered throughout the line-up of the first Croydon Comedy Festival, which kick-starts a huge summer of live performance across the town.

Alongside the two-month long comedy festival, which includes 33 gigs across five venues and begins today, there is also the new Ambition Festival, three days of entertainment set to engulf the town on the final weekend of July.

These two new events, have been jammed into an already packed calendar that includes the Heritage Festival, set to begin on Saturday celebrating the history and culture of Croydon, two food orientated events – London Road Carnival and South End Food Festival – and the 29th International Playwriting Festival, now held at the Fairfield Halls, following the closure of the Warehouse Theatre.

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Top chef Malcolm John will be holding cooking demonstrations at the South End Food Festival

Away from the town centre there is also the Overground Festival in Crystal Palace and the Purley Festival, as well as numerous smaller events.

Ambition Festival, set up by Croydon Council, will be held across seven outdoor stages erected across the town centre, four churches, town centre pubs, clubs and cafes and the main areas within the Fairfield Halls.

John Bownas was handed the responsibility of organising the event and has lined up an eclectic mix of performers including the Alternative Dubstep Orchestra and Blunderbus, a double decker bus hosting comedy.

He said: “This is a new event and has been a huge operation. It is impossible to pick out a highlight, but I would just say go online, have a look at what is on offer and you’ll be sure to find something that takes your fancy." 

Many events will be free and the council announced this week the headline show, featuring award-winning folk pairing Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker with British Asian group Circle of Sound on Saturday, will now be free.

Councillor Timothy Godfrey, Croydon’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said: “We’ve done our best to keep as much of the festival as we can free, and we decided that this Saturday night headline event is one where we want people to come along and experience the best of two well-matched flavours of music.”

Croydon Comedy Festival has attracted the likes of Sara Pascoe and Richard Herring to come to the borough.

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Richard Herring will be performing in the Croydon Comedy Festival

Organiser Tim Eveleigh, said his comedy tastes are extremely picky, and he has been ruthless in his selection process.

With five locations – the Oval Tavern, Matthew’s Yard, the Wandle Bandstand, Croydon Athletic clubhouse and the Spreadeagle Theatre – Mr Eveleigh says Croydon Comedy Festival could grow into something larger next year.

Now into its third year, Croydon Heritage Festival is organised by the Whitgift Foundation in order “to celebrate Croydon’s past, present and future”.

This year the festival’s theme will be famous people of Croydon, such as Ronnie Corbett and David Lean, after which the eponymous and recently reopened cinema in the Croydon Clocktower is named. Tours, including a Concrete Safari tour of post-war Croydon, will be on all week.

The festival is also putting on tours of churches, the Croydon Minster and the homes of Croydon’s historically famous such as composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

In total the town centre will play host to eight festivals, many including multiple gigs over the coming seven weeks.

 

Comedy Festival

June 18 to August 13, various venues. Top comics testing out new material ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe. Thirty-three performances scheduled almost daily.

Heritage Festival

June 20 to June 28, various venues. More than 100 events

celebrating the areas history and culture, from walking tours, historic building openings, exhibitions and live performance.

Flower Fairy Festival

June 20, 21 and 27, noon to 5.30pm at Park Hill Park. Live dance and music and story telling, arts and crafts workshops, a pop-up cinema and a pop-up restaurant.

June 28, noon to 4pm, Park Hill Park. Official opening of the walled garden within the park and live music.

South End Food Festival

June 28, noon to 7pm, South End. Live music, dance, and cooking demos. Large and diverse variety of food on offer.

Folk and Blues Festival

July 11, noon to 11pm, Ruskin House. Regular musicians who play the Sunday club, as well as a performance by a Russian children’s choir and the Schiehallion Pipers.

London Road Carnival

July 19, noon to 5pm, London Road. Live music and dance, central stage including headline act Angie Brown, and diverse range of food stalls.

Ambition Festival

July 23 to 26, various venues.

A massive line-up of dance and music performed in the Fairfield Halls, seven outdoor stages erected across the town centre, four churches, town centre pubs, clubs and cafes

International Playwright Festival

Alongside Ambition, Warehouse Phoenix and Fairfield Halls present the 29th Year of the International Playwriting Festival. July 25 and 26, 5pm & 7pm, the Studio, Fairfield Halls. New productions presented from writers and theatre companies from around the world.