Comedy festival uplift leaves businesses smiling

"It's a real feather in Leicester's cap to have the UK's largest comedy festival here."

Leicester Comedy Festival has begun, and as well as bringing the funny, the event - now in its 33rd year - also brings vital money to the city, organisers said.

The event runs from Wednesday until 22 February, with more than 1,000 performances planned, including big names like actor and writer Sir Stephen Fry and comedian Maisie Adam.

Ian Martin, co-owner of venue The Real Ale classroom, said the "buzz" of the festival "really puts the city in the best light".

He said: "It's almost like Christmas coming again, and at a time that's typically quiet for pubs, it's absolutely essential for us."

Organisers estimate the festival - this year themed "the art of comedy" - brings in about £5m annually for the local economy.

Simon Jenner, director of BID Leicestershire, said of the festival: "It's a bit of a cold dark time of year, but it really does brighten the city up, puts a smile on people's faces - and we also have people travelling from all over the world.

"We track footfall in the city and we see about a nine percent increase. A lot of those people are in restaurants, bars, cafes, and we visibly see on Mondays and Tuesdays at the start of the week, increased trade for our businesses."

Leicester City Council's city centre director Sarah Harrison said more than three decades of the festival had brought "about 100 million to the local economy".

She added: "It's good for Leicester, a third of the people come from outside of Leicester, and some even come from as far away as Australia and America."

Regular highlights include The UK Pun Championships and the prestigious Leicester Comedian of the Year - previously won by Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford, Josh Widdicombe, and Romesh Ranganathan.

But as well as big names in the business being booked for this year's expanded programme - such as Sara Pascoe, Sue Perkins, Paul Merton, Milton Jones and Sophie Duker - the festival is an established proving ground for up-and-coming talents too.

Shows will be taking place across 80 venues in the city and county - from De Montfort Hall's grand 1,500-seat theatre down to the 25-capacity Sunny Skies Cafe.

Charlotte Laidet, Leicester Comedy Festival director, said: "We have a lot of free and pay-what-you-want shows, so people can book a free ticket to ensure they have a space in the show, or sometimes pay what you can afford to donate a little bit of money to the comedian.

"It's a great model for comedy, so then you can go and see really quality shows without breaking the bank."

Owners of venues for the shows and the comics themselves said the festival had brought huge cultural benefits to the area too.

Leicester comic Alex Hylton said: "As a comedian who travels across the country, it's great having gigs that I could walk to - but in Leicester there's something a little bit special about this city, and maybe that's because the festival's been here for so long.

"I think people take more chances in Leicester, they go out and they're more keen to support it."

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