Saltaire Festival is gearing up for a rib-tickling September with tickets now on sale for top comedy acts.

Romesh Ranganathan, winner of the Best Newcomer Award at last year's Edinburgh Festival,

heads the comedy night at the Caroline Social Club on Wednesday, September 17, while poet Kate

Fox brings stories of her work as a poet to the United Reformed Church on Friday, September 19.

Romesh is keen to make it to Saltaire after unforeseen circumstances forced the cancellation of his

Festival appearance last year.

Since then, his TV work has included BBC2's Mock The Week and BBC1's Live At The Apollo, as well as Stand Up For The Week on Channel 4.

He will be supported by Suzi Ruffell, who has accompanied the likes of Alan Carr and Josh

Widdicombe on their UK tours and is soon to be seen on Live From The Comedy Store on Comedy

Central.

Both are bringing their Edinburgh Festival shows to Saltaire Festival.

Two nights later, Kate Fox, a regular on BBC Radio 4, will be sharing her funniest poems and

stories from unusual stints as poet in residence in locations as varied as the Glastonbury festival,

an Islamic faith school and a colostomy nurses' conference.

"Live performance has always been a key feature of the Festival and we've built up a reputation in

recent years for spotting rising comedy stars, many of them arriving straight off hit runs at the

Edinburgh Fringe," said Saltaire Festival chairman Ros Garside.

"We try very hard to keep ticket prices affordable so as many people as possible can enjoy the

Festival programme - indeed, many events this year will be free, as at previous festivals.

"Ticketed events are popular and also have limited capacity so we'd encourage early booking to be

sure of admission."

Tickets for both shows are now on sale on the Festival website - saltairefestival.co.uk - and

cost £10 for the comedy night and £6 for Kate Fox, in addition to an online booking fee.

This year's Saltaire Festival takes place between September 13 and 21.