As you enter Boulder, you may be more focused on breweries than comedy shows. Boulder Comedy Festival is here to flip the script.

Now in its fifth year, Boulder Comedy Festival brings nationally touring comics, local legends, and everything in between to the foothills for seven days of laugh-out-loud, refreshingly inclusive stand-up. Shows span venues like Junkyard Social, The Dairy Arts Center, Dog House Music, and Louisville Underground, with tickets starting at $30 and age ranges from 18+ to 21+ depending on the location.

John “Hippieman” Novosad performs at a past Boulder Comedy Festival.

Past performers include Boulder native John Novosad, better known as Hippieman, whose laid-back, sharp-edged humor has landed him on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Comedy TV. A local legend with national chops, he captures the Boulder feel better than most.

But this isn’t your average comedy festival, and that’s the point.

Founder and comic Zoe Rogers launched Boulder Comedy Festival after working the comedy circuit in Los Angeles. Opportunities were inconsistent — and even fewer came without a side of condescension. The only all-women lineup she was offered was a show called “Show Me Your Wits.”

So when she moved to Boulder, she didn’t just bring her mic, but also her mission. Boulder’s progressive energy gave her something LA didn’t: room to build something new. A space where comedy wasn’t a gatekept boys’ club, but a genuine reflection of the world around it.

According to its website, Boulder Comedy Festival blends “incredible comedians and all the beauty and adventure the Boulder area has to offer.” That includes hikes, breweries, mountain views, and a lineup that’s deliberately diverse.

Comedians gather backstage during a past Boulder Comedy Festival.

This year’s performers include comics like Al Jackson, Janae Burris, Arman Shah, Kimberly Koester, Aditya Shankar, Eeland Stribling, Jonah Nigh, Neeraj Srinivasan, Monica Nevi, Katrina Davis, and more. A mix of local standouts and nationally touring acts with credits on Comedy Central, Netflix, and Prime Video.

Every day has a different shuffle of lineups, but the goal remains consistent. No gatekeepers, just good comedy.

Rogers looks at it as a “playdate mentality.” “You’re booking people you trust, who you know will elevate each other,” she explained. “Those hateful comics who get up there and all you learn is who they don’t like? You leave knowing nothing about who they are.”

It’s that shift in mindset, from cutting to connective, that drives both the performers and the audiences. Rogers mentioned that even when people express hesitations at places like the Boulder Farmers Market, worried that stand-up will be too offensive or shallow, they often end up surprised. “They come to a show, and then they come back the next night, or ask when we’ll be back.”

The festival centers comics who don’t punch down, but dig deep. They tell stories that stick with you; some dark or twisted, often deeply personal. One performer joked about his father leaving when he was two, only to suddenly reappear years later with a snide opinion about drag queens reading to children. His response? “I’d take any man reading to me.” Punchy. Honest. Hilarious. And for many, relatable.

“That’s one of my favorite things about each festival,” Rogers told me. “Seeing the audience respond to a comic the way I did when I first watched their tape.”

Rogers, who also performs with the touring show Moms Unhinged, knows firsthand how motherhood, womanhood, and comedy intersect, and how often they’re dismissed together. But in Boulder, she’s built a festival where funny women aren’t a niche. They’re the norm.

One of her goals is making the shows feel intentional. “I’m lucky to have hilarious hosts so I’m not doing double duty, but I’ll be at the shows, even the ones I’m not performing in, because it’s not often that you get to see a lineup that funny.”

Zoe Rogers performs at Boulder Comedy Festival, the inclusive stand-up event she founded in 2020.

Looking ahead, the festival hopes to grow its sponsor network and deepen ties with local businesses to support performers and audiences alike. Even her son gets in on the philosophy. “I told him, ‘Put on your big girl panties and be the change,’” she says, laughing. “He immediately asked why I had to say panties.”

Boulder Comedy Festival may not have the swagger of New York or the scene cred of LA, but that’s the point. It’s carving out its own corner, one that makes room for everyone. In a comedy world that can still feel exclusive, Boulder Comedy Festival is proof that the punchline can belong to everyone.