Party at the Palace festival audience will be rocking and rolling as comedy line-up is announced

Daily Record

28-04-2025

Revellers at this year's Party at the Palace will be splitting their sides with laughter thanks to a host of fantastic comedians. Host Des McLean will bring together the best of Scottish talent and his picks from the Fringe for this year's comedy stage line-up. While the family fun weekend will see Boney M, Squeeze, The Hoosiers and Tom Meighan rock the music stage, Party At The Palace has also built a reputation as hosting the most unique open air comedy club in Scotland. Funny man Des McLean will host an expertly curated comedy line-up over the weekend of August 2 and 3 in Linlithgow, which will include international TV stars like Glenn Wool, Susie McCabe, Tiff Stevenson, Liam Farrelly, Kim Blythe, Ray Bradshaw, Josie Long, Rosco McLelland, Chris Forbes and Tei Boyd. With the iconic Fringe going on in August too, Des picks out his favourites from the programme there, alongside the turns he feels have to perform whether they're doing Edinburgh or not. If this was a gig this is a 40-quid ticket for this line-up, they're all headline acts. 'I know it's a cliché but there is genuinely something for everyone, for every taste – international comics, current and previous award winners, big box office hits and then really offbeat stuff too. 'I'm compering and hosting bits in between as usual because I know the audience and we have regulars who come every year – we must be only comedy tent at a festival where we have our own regulars. 'Punters come an hour early to get their bales of hay to sit on, it's a real part of why they're at the festival not just a passing interest to tune in and out of – usually comedy can be a background thing at an event like this but this is a comedy club in the fresh air. 'It reminds me of the beer garden tour Susie McCabe and I did after lockdown. 'People can sit back relax and enjoy it – it's a real cracking event and experience with a certain demographic, family vibes, it's such a nice not up itself event. I love it. 'Often with music festivals, there's a tent in a corner and it's an afterthought but this has a following and a purpose, people come for it as an attraction in its own right.' Des is thrilled at the line-up he has managed to put together this year and he's confident it rivals anything at any major comedy event. Sunday is headlined by Susie McCabe who just sold out three Kings Theatre shows and won the Sir Billy Connolly award last year. Ray Bradshaw from Off The Ball headlines Saturday. Canadian comic Glenn Wool, who has six comedy albums, will also feature, as will Tiff Stevenson who starred alongside Ricky Gervais in The Office, and stars of social media such as TikTok star Kim Blythe. Party at the Palace Festival Director John Richardson said: 'This isn't a case of festival bookers throwing together a comedy line-up or trying to pull in some names we think might work. 'Comedy is more than that, there's real science and art to programming both the right line-up and how that flows through the two days. 'We have known and respected Des for a long time and he was always a lynchpin of our comedy stuff, so it made absolute sense to hand the whole thing over to him – he's in charge, it's his thing. 'It's been a huge success and we're thrilled to have him on board – it's essentially his picks of the best in comedy both at the Fringe and just in general. 'We really believe in bringing the very best to the festival whether that's music, comedy, food, drinks, all of it – and we are really happy with the line-up across the board this year.' For more info and tickets visit: www.partyatthepalace.co.uk Don't miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here .