Leicester Comedy Festival 2018 is only days away. It contains over 400 live shows at 70 venues across 19 days in Leicester. The event is highly anticipated in and around the community.
The rundown
Leicester Comedy Festival has been running for 25 years now, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to come to a halt anytime soon.
From 1994 until 2000 well-known comedians and celebrities would host, perform and feature in special events around Leicester. This helped gain a large audience and the Comedy Festival soon had amazing reviews and a big fan base.
From 2001 until 2007 we saw the BBC get involved creating comedy workshops and recording a News Quiz from college students’ own sketches. Then, popular names such a Jason Manford, Jimmy Carr and Russell Brand performed in and around the East Midlands as part of the event, along with other first time and experienced comedians.
As the Comedy Festival grew, the length expanded from 7 to 17 days by 2010. The number of events taking place rocketed from 40 to a whopping 530. In 2012 the Festival was renamed ‘Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival’ as it enters into a partnership with the TV Channel Dave.
From 2014 until 2017 we continued to see popular names such as Sarah Millican, Johnny Vegas, Lee Nelson and Tom Allen. Last year alone 80,000 tickets were sold via the main box office and a further 35,000 people attended the free events. The economic benefit for Leicester is over £3million and there were more shows sold out than ever before!
Leicester Comedy Festival 2018
What should you expect this year you ask? One big comedy party. There will be the usual mix of exclusive shows produced especially for the Festival, and a great line up with the likes of Harry Hill, Sara Pascoe, Jonathan Pie, Kathrine Ryan and Dave Spikey.
There are absolutely hundreds of events you can go and see this February, and we have all – if not most – of the best and unmissable shows at your fingertips. Some of the shows and acts offer their entertainment for free, or for the option to ‘pay what you want’ which is a brilliant idea for anyone looking for a fun night out on a budget.
Competition Time
Click Here for your chance to WIN 2 tickets to see Paul Tonkinson: The Return of the Tonk performing at this years Leicester Comedy Festival.
Line Up & Tickets
Here, you’ll find all the information you need to know about the upcoming events, so have a look through and make a note in your diary for the ones that appeal to you. The Comedy Festival explores a vast amount of genres, such as discussion, storytelling, improvisation, interactive, spoken word and much much more so whatever you’re into you’re guaranteed to find it this February!
Wednesday, 7th February – Thursday, 16th February
Friday, 16th February – Sunday, 25th February
Saturday 24th February 2018 – Sunday 25th, February 2018