The Altitude Comedy Festival, which combines comedy and ski-slope activities in Mayrhofen, has won two awards just a couple of days apart. Altitude Festival was up against some tough competition in the Best Overseas Festival category this year nominated along such giant festivals as Snowbombing, Sziget, Dimensions, Lost and Found and 8 Festival.
After winning the Award the festival wanted to say: ‘Thank you to everyone who voted, who supports us, who performs with us and who works with us, and of course the amazing Mayrhofen Tourist Board – we couldn’t have won with without you!’
It also won Comedy Festival of the Year at the Resorts and Retreats Awards 2022.
Held on 6 December at Manchester’s Escape to Freight Island, the long-anticipated return of the UK Festival Awards provided an ideal opportunity for a sold out audience of festival organisers, suppliers and the wider live entertainment industry to get together and reflect on the past season while looking forward to the next.
The awards were decided by either fan votes or judges’ verdicts in categories including Best Major Festival, Outstanding Contribution and, for this year only, the Positively Perfect Pivot Award – which acknowledges the festival business that applied its skills to alternative activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The award for Outstanding Contribution to Festivals was handed to two winners this year; the AFO General Secretary, Steve Heap and the former CEO of the AIF, Paul Reed. In presenting the award, event sponsor Ticketmaster’s VP of Music and Festivals said of Steve, now a 2-time winner of the accolade: ‘his determined work throughout the pandemic, when he should’ve been looking forward to his retirement, could not go unnoticed.’ and of Paul she said “He transformed the organisation and through extensive lobbying won several key battles for independent festivals. His leadership was never more prominent than during the pandemic”
UK Festival Awards winners 2022:
- Exit Festival/NFT-TiX, The Innovation Award, sponsored by Festival Insights
- Parklife, Marketing Campaign of the Year, sponsored by Ratcat
- Back 2 Festival, The Positively Perfect Pivot Award, sponsored by The Loop
- Beat the Streets, The Sarah Nulty Community Impact Award, sponsored by Universe
- Mighty Hoopla/Vodafone, The Brand Activation Award, sponsored by CGA By NielsenIQ
- Altitude Comedy Festival, Best Overseas Festival, sponsored by Camden Town Brewery
- Sound City, Best Metropolitan Festival, sponsored by Mustard Media
- 3 Wishes Fairy Festival, The Grassroots Festival Award, sponsored by Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
- Green Gathering, The UK Greener Festival Award, sponsored by A Greener Festival
- The Great Escape, Best Festival for Emerging Talent, sponsored by TikTok
- Teddy Rocks, Best Family Festival, sponsored by Event Traffic Control
- RADAR Festival, Best New Festival, sponsored by ID&C
- bluedot, Line-Up of the Year, sponsored by Riot
- Mighty Dub Fest, Best Non-Music Festival, sponsored by Get Comedy
- Boomtown, Best Festival Production, sponsored by TPi Magazine
- Black Deer, Promoter of the Year, sponsored by Production Futures
- Woo Fest, Best Small Festival, sponsored by We Get Sponsors
- 2000 Trees, Best Medium Festival, sponsored by O’Donnell Moonshine
- Manchester Pride, Best Large Festival, sponsored by Peppermint
- Steve Heap, The Outstanding Contribution Award, sponsored by Ticketmaster
- Paul Reed, The Outstanding Contribution Award
Altitude is heading back to Mayrhofen, Austria for 2023.
Winner of 1 UK Festival Award, BEST OVERSEAS FESTIVAL 2022 and Nominated for 6 other UK Festival and 4 European Festival Awards, this is an Alpine festival like no other. A truly unmissable experience, the festival offers the unique opportunity to combine the adrenaline rush of the slopes with a sledge-load of endorphin inducing laughs from our outrageously talented comedians.
If you’re a huge fan of comedy have been priced out of a week at the Edinburgh Fringe by rocketing accommodation costs, Altitude could be your new favourite way to get a hit of the craic.
Despite its stunning views, glorious spas, incredible cuisine and an endless array of activities to explore, accommodation in Mayrhofen remains wonderfully affordable.
7 nights can cost from as little as £390 for an entire Alpine apartment for two people – that’s less than £30 per person per night!
Set in the heart of the Zillertal Valley, slap bang between two mountains – the Penken and the smaller Ahorn, the resort of Mayrhofen is perfect for beginners, intermediates and professional skiers, and is very popular with boarders.
The Hintertux glacier, also in the Zillertal Valley is a short bus ride away, and it is one of the only ski resorts in the world with guaranteed snow 365 days of the year.
If you thought that the fun goes downhill after the slopes, you’ve obviously not experienced the magic healing power of comedy. Stiff legs? Broken bones? Our hilarious resident comedic doctors will melt away your aches and pains and tickle your funny bones.
Whether you’re an Altitude veteran or virgin, our fun-filled bunch of joke-slingers, wise-crackers, and clown-wranglers will have you falling over with laughter. There’s intimate afternoon Après Ski shows, gala performances with the best in the business, & unpredictable, ridiculously outrageous late night impromptu sets you’ll only see once.
What sets Altitude apart is the intimate atmosphere – nowhere in the world do you have the chance to get up close and personal to such an incredible mix of internationally renowned comedians and comedy’s brightest up-and-coming talent.
Just like being on snow safari, you’ll spot our comedians in their natural habitats, from performing on stage to being entangled in chair lifts, snaffling strudels and leaping in their Lederhosen in the early hours of the morning.
Hold onto your ski hats, strap yourself in and let our comedy royalty whisk you up to the dizzying heights of the best week of your life.
LINE UP
The full line-up for Altitude 2023 is still being announced but acts so far include:
Dylan Moran, Deidre O’Kane
Andrew Maxwell (pictured), Marcus Brigstocke,
Ivan Brackenbury, Emmanuel Sonubi,
Mark Nelson, Karl Spain, Aurie Styla,
Cerys Nelmes, Stephen Grant, Elliot Steel,
Ryan Cullen, Abigoliah Schamaun, Kate Williams
The International Impro Allstars
Oh My God! It’s The Church (DJ Sets)
The Original Silent Disco
