Festivals

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, held every August in Edinburgh, Scotland. Improv has a significant presence within the Fringe, with dedicated improv venues and an improv-focused strand attracting companies from around the world.

The Canadian Improv Games national championship is an annual competition and festival held in Ottawa, bringing together high school improv teams from across Canada for a week of performances, workshops, and the national championship finals.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is Australia's largest comedy festival and one of the three largest comedy festivals in the world, alongside Edinburgh Fringe and Montreal Just for Laughs. Founded in 1987, it runs for four weeks each autumn in Melbourne's CBD. Improv companies and performers feature prominently alongside stand-up, sketch, and variety acts, with Australian and international acts performing across dozens of venues.

The Edmonton International Improv Festival, produced by Rapid Fire Theatre, is a major annual improv event in Edmonton, Alberta. The festival features invited companies from Canada and internationally performing alongside Rapid Fire's own ensemble.

The Vancouver International Improv Festival is one of Canada's oldest and largest improv festivals, bringing together companies from across Canada and internationally for a week of performances, jams, and workshops in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Chicago Improv Festival is an annual celebration of improvisational performance held in Chicago, the birthplace of long-form improv. The festival brings together local, national, and international companies for performances, workshops, and panels across multiple Chicago venues.

Festival du Jeu is France's principal improv festival, celebrating the French tradition of improvisation that developed through the Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation format. The festival brings together French-language companies from France and Quebec.

The Del Close Marathon (DCM) is a 50-plus-hour non-stop improv festival held annually in New York City by the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Named in honor of Del Close, DCM features hundreds of improv groups from around the world performing back-to-back shows over a marathon weekend.

San Francisco Sketchfest is an annual comedy festival held in San Francisco that features sketch comedy, improv, stand-up, and variety acts. The festival attracts major comedy names and emerging artists, with improv as a core component of its programming.

The Montreal Improv Festival is a bilingual celebration of improvisational theatre held annually in Montreal, Quebec. The festival showcases English and French-language improv companies from Quebec and beyond.

Improv Festival Amsterdam is the Netherlands' leading improv festival, gathering European and international improv companies for performances and workshops in Amsterdam. The festival is a key gathering point for the growing European improv scene.

Improv Comedy Barcelona is Spain's leading English-language improv festival, bringing together international improv companies to perform in Barcelona. The festival has been instrumental in developing the growing improv scene in Spain and southern Europe.

Big City Improv Festival is a Toronto annual improv comedy festival founded in 2011 by Adrianne Gagnon.