More and more people are planning their holidays around festivals, be they book festivals, music and arts festivals, walking festivals or – increasingly popular – comedy festivals.

If you believe laughter is good for you, and you’re happy to drive from your holiday cottage into the usually urban setting of a comedy festival, then you’ll be keen to visit a new website linked to enjoyEngland (England’s tourism council). Go to www.comedyengland.com for a list of  up and coming comedy festivals – I’ve included some below.

The website has a section on comedy-linked places to visit, too. You enjoyed the Bridget Jones films? Find her flat near Borough Market. Fawlty Towers? That was set in Torquay. Dad’s Army fan? – examine mementoes at Bressingham Museum in Norfolk. Another section lists comedy clubs and also tells you where to find blue plaques marking birthplaces and venues linked to our most famous comedians.

Interested in comedy festivals? We have cottages to hire within driving distance of each of these festivals:

Sheffield Comedy Festival

27 Sep – 12 Oct  

Birmingham Comedy Festival

3 Oct – 12 Oct

Newcastle Gateshead Comedy Festival

3 Oct – 9 Oct 

Magners Paramount, Brighton

4 Oct – 20 Oct 

Hull Comedy Festival

23 Oct – 7 Nov