Ljubljana - Panč, a festival of stand-up comedy, kicks off at Ljubljana Castle on Sunday bringing performances by 31 comedians from Europe, Asia and Africa.

Slovenian stand-up comedy mainstays such as Martina Ipša, Perica Jerković, Boris Kobal, Lucija Ćirović, Admir Baltić and Tilen Artač are among the line-up.

Foreign performers include the Hungarian-South African comedian Tamas Vamos, Alice Frick from Austria, Ali R Taha, a Syrian-Iraqi performer who is based in Slovenia. and Lyle Barke from London.

The festival director Andrej Težak - Tešky says the performances will be very diverse as a young generation of comedians gradually enters the scene.

In addition to classic start-up, there will also be improv performances and humorous songs over five days of the festival.