1. ELIGIBILITY: Festival is open to all comedians who are at least 18 years of age, human, and reside on planet Earth at the time of submission.

2. DESCRIPTION: Comedian ("Participant") must complete a submission form and a processing fee ("Fee") of thirty (30) dollars to The "SLO Comedy Festival“ ("Festival") All Fees are only payable through PayPal. Submission period ("Submission") begins at 12:01 AM PDT on Friday, September 12, 2025 and ends at 11:59 PM PST on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Wednesday, October 1, 2025 the Fee increases to thirty-five (35) dollars. Saturday, November 1, 2025 the Fee increases to forty (40) dollars. Monday, December 1, 2025 the Fee increases to forty-five (45) dollars. Thursday, January 1, 2026 the Fee increases to fifty (50) dollars. Following the Submission, Participants will be reviewed according to the Panel criteria as detailed in Section 5 of the Official Festival Rules. All fees are nonrefundable.

3. ENTRY: To enter, complete a submission form and include one (1) YouTUBE or Vimeo video that depicts you performing a stand-up comedy routine, five (5) minutes in play length. Video can be a "best of" highlight reel, or of one continuous set. The video submitted as part of Participant's Entry ("Entry") must not be longer than five (5) minutes in play length. If a submitted video exceeds five (5) minutes in play length, no more than the first five (5) minutes of the video will be reviewed. Entry is not complete until all of the following tasks are performed. All submission forms must be complete with submission fee and received by 11:59 PM PST Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Participants must provide all information requested to be eligible. Incomplete, unreadable, private video, password protected video or unintelligible Entry will be disqualified. It is the sole responsibility of the Participant to notify the Festival in writing if Participant changes his/her e-mail, postal address, or phone number during the Submission.

4. MATERIAL: All items submitted will become the property of the Festival for promotional use only, and will not be returned to Participant. ("Material") includes to the extent applicable (a) any information (e.g., comedy routine, video, headshot) submitted by you or in connection with the Festival; (b) your name, likeness, voice, and image; and (c) all photographs, recordings, audiovisual, writings, biographical, statements, and quotations of you and furnished to the Festival by you in connection with your participation in the Festival. Do not submit any Material of anyone other than yourself. By submitting Material, you represent and warrant to the Festival that (i) the Material is wholly original and does not infringe upon or otherwise violate any copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other proprietary right of any person or entity, (ii) you have all rights necessary to submit the Material to the Festival in accordance with these Official Festival Rules, and (iii) no party other than you has any right, title, or interest in and to the Material or any part of the Material which would impair the rights granted to Festival hereunder. Material must not contain nudity, any unlawful acts, or people eating sandwiches.

5. QUALIFYING NOTIFICATION: All Materials submitted during the Submission period will be reviewed by a committee ("Panel") selected by the Festival. Humor (33%), Stage Presence (33%), Originality (33%) and Luck (1%). Participant reviewing will take place between January 8-19, 2026. Each of the accepted Participants will be notified via email on or about January 20, 2026 and will be required to respond (as directed) to the notification attempt. The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in forfeiture of participation in the Festival and, in such case, Festival will select an alternate Participant from among all remaining Entries submitted. Non accepted Participants will not be notified via email.

6. CAUTION:  ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE FESTIVAL OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE FESTIVAL MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE FESTIVAL. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE FESTIVAL RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

7. PRIVACY POLICY: Any personal information supplied by you to the Festival will be subject to the privacy policy. The Festival will not sell, rent, transfer or otherwise disclose your personal data to any third party. The Festival fully respects your right to privacy, and will not collect any personal information about you on this website without your clear and explicit permission. Any personal information which you volunteer will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such.

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8. PERSONAL LIABILITY: I hereby release and agree to indemnify the Festival from, and waive on behalf of myself, my heirs, and any personal representatives, all causes of action, claims, demands, damages, costs, expenses, and compensation for any damage or loss to myself and/or property that may result from any act or omission by the Festival, or that may otherwise arise in any manner in relation to any activities associated with the Festival. I acknowledge that this release absolves the Festival from any liability or claims that I, my heirs, or any personal representatives may have against the Festival concerning any bodily injury, illness, death, medical treatment, or property damage that may occur from, or in relation to, any engagement with the Festival. This liability waiver and release applies to the Festival as well as all owners, partners, venues, and employees associated with it.

9. FESTIVAL LINE-UP: The Festival line up will be announced on our website Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Only accepted Participants will be notified via email.

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10. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION/RELEASES: By submitting a submission form and payment to the festival, Participants agree to be bound by these Official Festival Rules, which shall be final and binding in all respects. The Released Parties shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, stolen, misdirected, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, garbled, unintelligible, private video, password protected video entries, communications or affidavits, regardless of the method of transmission; (ii) telephone system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind resulting from acceptance, or from participation in the Festival; or (v) any printing, typographical, human, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with the Festival. Festival disclaim any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with this Festival. By agreeing to participate, you authorize the Festival to record your performance and to utilize those recordings in any media, either in full or in part, for any purpose. The SLO Comedy Festival retains the exclusive right to cancel, alter, or suspend the Festival at their discretion.