In pictures: Cambridge Fringe Festival 2025 draws crowds to four different Cambridge venues
More than 100 stand-up comedians performing at four city venues all within a two-minute walking distance of each other, and spread out over two days, the Cambridge Fringe Festival sounds amazing on paper - and it was pretty great in reality too.
Taking place last weekend (24-25 May), some of the biggest names in stand-up - including Nick Helm, Jordan Brookes, Hal Cruttenden, Ania Magliano, Spencer Jones, Adele Cliff, Glenn Moore, and Helen Bauer - did their thing in front of appreciative audiences at The Portland Arms, The Waterman, The Boathouse, and Thirsty.
Advance tickets for each show were very reasonably priced at just £5.50.
The standouts for me on the Saturday were the outstanding Hal Cruttenden, who seemed pleasantly surprised to essentially be opening the festival (he was first up at The Boathouse) before zooming off to Wales later in the day for another gig, the very likeable Huge Davies, who informed me beforehand that he was about to improvise his set (something he’d never tried before, and it worked), the always very clever and imaginative Glenn Moore, and the delightfully offbeat Rob Auton (it has to be said that ‘Quiz Team Aguilera’ is a brilliant name for a pub quiz team).
On the Sunday, I witnessed strong sets by Muhsin Yesilada and Limahl Germain, who were both new to me, as well as the always reliable Simon Evans, who singled me out for some banter (that will teach me to wear a tie and sit on the second row), and Toussaint Douglass, whose show was funny, creative, and certainly unique.
Harriet Wells-Martin, co-organiser of Cambridge Fringe Festival - she also runs Commoners’ Comedy, which puts on monthly comedy nights at The Portland Arms, with Ali Warwood - said: “We are absolutely overwhelmed by how many people attended the festival this year.
“Considering it’s run by five volunteers who all have day jobs, it has been so joyful to see so many sold-out shows, so many up-and-coming comedians, and just lots of people having a lovely time watching brilliant comedy.
“We’re so grateful for our volunteers who step up every year to support the festival and the acts who bring all these amazing shows to our lovely little city.
“We hope that the Cambridge Fringe continues to grow and becomes a real pillar of the Cambridge calendar.
“We’ll back next year on the 23 and 24 May, bringing more amazing acts to the city, but before then, time for a lie down!”
The first Cambridge Fringe took place in 2018. For more on the event, visit cambridgefringe.co.uk.
