The Sydney Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival held in Sydney. Launched in 2005 as The Cracker Sydney Comedy Festival at a number of inner city venues, the Festival has grown quickly and now attracts 111,000 patrons every year at venues all across Sydney. The Sydney Comedy Awards were introduced in 2008, to celebrate excellence in the Sydney Comedy Festival. In 2013, the festival introduced The Sydney Comedy Festival showcase tour, bringing bits of the festival to towns all over Australia. Unfortunately, 2020 saw the festival go on hiatus.