New-look comedy festival announces 630 shows

A new-look comedy festival, replacing a former event which was cancelled after its parent company ceased trading, has announced 630 shows in Leicester.

The Independent Comedy Festival has confirmed the shows will take place over more than two weeks in February, with 35,000 tickets available across 43 venues.

In August, The Big Difference Company - which ran Leicester Comedy Festival - announced "with great sadness" that it had become insolvent and ceased trading.

Alex Hylton, who has organised the shows, said the city "deserves a world-class comedy festival".

The stand-up comedian said the festival would bring "local heroes, touring legends and big names" to Leicester.

Maisie Adams, Milton Jones, Peter Serafinowicz and Bobby Davro will all perform during the festival.

"What happened with the comedy festival was incredibly disappointing for the city of Leicester," Hylton said.

"Leicester deserves a world-class comedy festival, and there's been a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make this happen in a very, very short space of time.

"We had to build 30 years of infrastructure in three months and I'm really, really proud of what we've built and what we've got.

"I can't wait for people to see all the fantastic shows that there are."

Set up by students from De Montfort University in 1994, Leicester Comedy Festival became a registered company the following year before the firm changed its name to Big Difference in 2009.

Harry Hill, Matt Lucas, Graham Norton and Sarah Millican are among the well-known names who have performed at the event over the past three decades.

But, in May, it emerged that hundreds of comedians had been unpaid following this year's festival, and in July an arts venue managed by the charity was repossessed due to the "non-payment of rent and insurance".

The directors of the original festival cited "increasing costs, a difficult funding environment, and significant pressures within the live comedy sector" as factors in its decision to cease trading.

Directors said they "worked tirelessly to avoid this outcome", including looking at reducing costs and seeking new funding, but said it was "not possible to secure a sustainable future".

Following the announcement, Hylton, alongside promoter Colin Bowles, decided to make sure the event did not disappear.

Shows will be hosted at De Montfort Hall, The Y Theatre and the Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium alongside venues in Anstey, Aylestone, Birstall, Blaby, Broughton Astley, Clarendon Park, Queniborough, Newton Linford, Oadby and Syston.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone who's played a part and we've had so many people reach out and offer to help and we need that help to continue," Hylton said.

"We're building this from scratch.

"It's been a real tooth-and-nail-experience and a learning curve for everyone.

"This is the city's festival as much as anybody else's."

Leicester's Sarah Johnson, who will be performing her solo show Older and Wiser at the Y Theatre, has said being part of the new festival is "particularly special".

"After 11 years, I'm still here, still making people laugh and still excited about what comes next," she said.

"I'm looking forward to celebrating comedy, supporting the local scene and being part of a fresh new chapter for Leicester."

Tickets for the shows will be on sale from 10:00 GMT on Thursday.

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.