Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival 2018 Sponsorship Opportunities —

January 2018

Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival 2018 —

Kilkenny Cat Laughs heralds the start of summer, taking over the June Bank Holiday Weekend in venues and bars across Kilkenny city.

2018 will be...

— The 24th installment of one of Ireland’s favourite festivals.

— The second year with a new brand, identity, tone of voice and programming scope

— Programmed for existing and new audiences

— Introduced to a new, younger generation of daring, bold, adventurous craic-seekers who relish the spontaneity of a destination festival

— An opportunity for creative brand partnerships which speak to our growing audience Sponsorship Options —

Title Sponsorship, Strand Sponsorships and Event Sponsorships are available for this well-loved festival heading in a bankable new direction.

Activations leveraging the festival are also open for discussion as are options for Transport / Airline partners.

Talent are available to work on rich Content Partnerships across all levels of sponsorships and activations, subject to availability and scope of deal.

Approx 20,000 people are expected in 2018, with city-wide amplification opportunities, years of production experience, established relationships with venues, bars, the city council and key Kilkenny stakeholders. 2017 Highlights —

2017 Highlights —

2017 Highlights —

Cat Laughs - The Programmers —

Kilkenny Cat Laughs is now under the directorship of Collapsing Horse, one of Ireland’s most exciting theatre companies, helmed by Matt Smyth & Dan Colley.

Dan and Matt are the youngest people to be in the driving seat of the festival since its founders in 1994. They’re ensuring that this trek to Kilkenny will become an annual Craic Pilgrimage for a new generation of Cat Laughs fans.

They bring a fresh perspective and a drive to create an urgent, you-had-to-be-there experience that can only happen in Kilkenny Cat Laughs 2018 will cement the festival’s new direction, with a marketing The 2018 programme will continue to feature reliable, campaign and programme that suggests... bankable sets by big and small names; gigs which pack out Kilkenny’s venues and which get people talking and ...the All-my-mates-will-be-there buzz of Electric Picnic sharing online. ...the I'm-blocking-you-for-the-weekend FOMO of Other Voices

...the You-had-to-be-there thrill of Drop Everything. What’s new in 2018? —

Cat Laughs 2018 is building on the success of the 2017 festival with a campaign to tap hard into the FOMO feeling of this generation.

We’re reminding our loyal fans and letting new ones know that Cat Laughs is filled with unmissable experiences, like…

...bizarre and beautiful performers who push comedy to the edge //

...a first look at the next big thing //

...stars and stalwarts playing tiny venues and huge theatres //

...that comic you’ve only seen on YouTube having a pint at the bar //

...that put-your-hands-up-in-the-air gig to top of the first weekend of the summer. Cat Laughs legacy What the media say... — —

Kilkenny Cat Laughs has launched and helped “American and British comedy fans who were taken develop the careers of Irish acts like Dara Ó Briain, aback by the "hey, let's party" element of the festival” Graham Norton, Dylan Moran, Ardal O’Hanlon, The Irish Times Deirdre O’Kane, David O’Doherty, Des Bishop and many, many more. “The best little comedy festival in the world” The Guardian It has a much-envied reputation as the comedian’s comedy festival – they love coming to Kilkenny for “Everything and anything should be expected with all the atmosphere, the pubs and the craic, on and off those comedians. I can't think of a better way to start stage. the summer.” The Irish Independent It has welcomed international luminaries like Bill Murray, Zach Galifianakis, Louis CK, Laura “There's divilment, mischief and some top class musical Kightlinger, Bill Burr, George Wendt, Ross Noble, comedy entertainment on hand to complement the Peter Kay, Bill Bailey, Emo Phillips and Sarah festival after-party's late bars.” Millican among others. Entertainment.ie

Cat Laughs: The numbers —

AUDIENCE (B&A Research 2017)

We have a young, affluent audience who enjoy comedy and festivals and who travel from across the country.

We’re aiming to attract our reliable While attracting taste makers, Gender Location audience of locals, nationwide comedy influencers and music festival attendees Male 49% / Female 51% 53% are not from Kilkenny fans and previous attendees to make their first trip to Cat Laughs 73% of visitors stayed at Age least overnight 18-24 (19%) 88% of visitors were 25-34 (31%) ‘influenced a lot’ to visit 35-44 (24%) Kilkenny by the festival 45+ (26%) Satisfaction Status On average, attendees ABC1 (64%) ranked their experience at C2DEF (36%) 8.8/10

We’re taking the spirit of a Summer Music Festival and planting its energy, thrill and collective sense of abandon in the heart of one of Ireland’s most beautiful cities Cat Laughs: The numbers —

Tickets 15,000 - 20,000 sold annually for the last last five years, with similar audience expectation in 2018

Kilkenny is packed in June, for official Cat Laughs events and as a major destination for holidays. Bars, cafes, restaurants and clubs throughout the city are reliably busy, broadening the real audience for city-wide OOH branding significantly.

Events More than 50 comedians 12+ venues with capacities ranging from 1200 to 75 More than 50 performances and gigs throughout the weekend

Festival Reach Facebook 16.6k Twitter 5.7k Instagram 700+ Email 15k Previous Bookers 32k+ Sponsorship Benefits —

Cat Laughs sponsors enjoy a host of Logo Placement Branding benefits and amplification opportunities pre and post-festival. Advance Programme: 40,000 copies At all venues and bars at all official Title sponsorship is available for 2018 distributed nationally events and beyond. Direct Mail: 9,000+ copies to previous Stage backdrops bookers Further benefits detailed below and City-wide outdoor branding with city negotiable based on depth and scope E-newsletters: 15,400+ email database council approval of partnership. Social Networks assets reaching a Festival Club branding combined 20k+ Lanyards, entry passes, guest passes Souvenir Programme: 4,000 copies distributed throughout Kilkenny In festival box office and all related bars and stakeholder venues Festival Ticketing: 15,000+ tickets printed and distributed annually Across all festival advertising, print and digital Website: 60,000+ unique visitors Volunteer t-shirts Joint logo on all assets Sponsorship Benefits —

As a comedy festival, we have Exclusive customer offers Exclusive content extraordinary talent and content available, which attracts huge A significant ticket allocation to offer to Podcast series available early to audiences - live and online. customers, or, generous discounts customers available during a specific window

Brand presence on the most We’re keen to develop the festival’s Exclusive content or early access to the photographed stages in the country in scope outside the festival’s dates too - festival programme June imagine Cat Laughs events in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Limerick, A daily panel show with festival Cat Laughs Comedian Football match live-streamed via social media. comedians broadcast via social media channels Social and online competitions for ‘money can’t buy’ access for customers As a city festival operating in just a small fraction of the pubs and venues in Kilkenny, we can also secure experiences in non-official venues for brand activity. Brand We’ve Worked With Recently... —

Talk to us! —

We want to work with you on delivering the best Cat Laughs yet.

With you, we can make it happen.

Tom Lawlor, Sponsorship Manager 086 364 3334 | email