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Desi Comedy Fest returns for 12th Bay Area edition
The six-day event will bring comedians from the U.S. and Canada to Bay Area stages.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 30, Jul 2026
- 17:56 EDT
- 26
DCF 2026 Festival Poster / Desi Comedy Fest
North America's South Asian comedy festival, Desi Comedy Fest, will return for its 12th edition from Aug. 18 to 23, with performances in six cities across the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento.
Founded in 2014 by comedians Samson Koletkar and Abhay Nadkarni, the festival will feature 25 comedians from the United States and Canada performing in San Francisco, Oakland, Sunnyvale, Pleasanton, Hayward, and Sacramento.
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This year's lineup includes Crystal Ferrier, Harpreet Sehmbi, Jesse Singh, Faraz Abidi, Raza Jafri, Uzair Malik, and festival co-founders Koletkar and Nadkarni.
"Desi Comedy Fest has always been about creating opportunities for talented comedians while bringing people together through laughter," Koletkar said in a statement. "Over the past twelve years, we've watched our audiences become increasingly diverse, proving that great comedy doesn't need a shared ethnicity–it just needs a shared sense of humor."
Nadkarni said the comedy landscape has changed since the festival's launch.
"When we started Desi Comedy Fest, there were very few spaces dedicated to showcasing South Asian comedians," he said. "Today, we're seeing South Asian comics appear on major streaming platforms, television, and comedy festivals around the world. We're proud that Desi Comedy Fest has helped create opportunities, build audiences, and demonstrate that these stories resonate far beyond our own communities."
The festival opens Aug. 18 at Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco, followed by shows in Oakland, Sunnyvale, Pleasanton, Hayward, and a closing performance Aug. 23 at Punch Line Comedy Club in Sacramento.
The festival was launched at a time when there were few dedicated platforms for South Asian stand-up comedians in North America. Since then, several performers who have appeared at the event have gone on to release specials or appear on platforms and networks including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, ABC, CBS, Comedy Central, and Just For Laughs, according to organizers.
Since its founding, Desi Comedy Fest has expanded beyond the Bay Area with tours across the United States and Canada and performances in India. Organizers say the festival has showcased hundreds of comedians while serving as a platform for emerging South Asian stand-up talent.
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