A new comedy festival has been announced in Leicester, organised by some of the comedians and promoters who are owed money by The Big Difference Company, the charity behind the Leicester Comedy Festival.

Local comedy promoter Colin Bowles and stand-up comedian Alex Hylton have announced Independent Comedy Festival will take place in February 2027 and feature hundreds of shows across dozens of venues in the city of Leicester and the wider county, with shows at venues as varied,The Y Theatre, Firebug, Real Ale Classroom, Oadby Royal British Legion and more, giving Leicester residents the chance to catch performances from both rising stars and top TV names.

The announcement comes shortly after The Big Difference Company, the charity behind Leicester Comedy Festival, left dozens of performers, promoters and venues unpaid for performances that took place in February 2026, with many performers still awaiting payment.

Professional Comedian Alex Hylton, who lives in Leicester and is resident comperé at many of the city’s established venues, said ‘I can’t wait! We’re going to put on something really special. Leicester deserves a brilliant comedy festival, artists deserve to be treated fairly, and audiences should know that their ticket money is going to support the show they have paid to see.

‘For too long in the comedy industry, comedians have been at the bottom of the pecking order. It’s time to start again. Hopefully comedians can trust that with one of their own kind at the helm, The Independent Comedy Festival will treat artists with the respect they deserve. With the support of many of the top comedy promoters and the city’s favourite venues we have combined to put on a new, fairer festival in 2027. It’s time that comedy in Leicester is run responsibly by people from the industry who will give the festival the love that it needs.

He added ‘Let me be clear, this is definitely not the Leicester Comedy Festival, this will be The Independent Comedy Festival.’

Colin Bowles of local comedy promoter TripleCeePee, who put on shows at several venues across the city including The Y Theatre, Firebug, Sue Townsend Theatre among others, said: ‘Over the last 10 years putting on a bunch of comedy every February has become a huge part of my life, so I had to take the chance to work with Alex to maintain that and try to continue the legacy with all the great things about having a huge festival of comedy in the city.’

TV Comedian and BBC Radio 4 Star, Mark Watson (below) said: ‘Leicester as a city has supported a unique, hugely valuable festival for many years now, and it would leave a huge gap in the comedy calendar. I'm very happy to hear that that gap is going to be filled by people who know what they're doing and truly care about comedy. I'm excited to see what comes next, and look forward to being part of it for years to come, unless I stop being funny.’

Jessica Toomey, Chair, Live Comedy Association said of the news: “The Live Comedy Association really welcomes the news of an independent comedy festival for Leicester. The city has a massive reputation for supporting live comedy and we wish the producers of the new festival all the best. We hope many of our members will get behind the new festival to help ensure it’s a massive celebration of UK comedy. We are excited to offer our support to the new producers and hope to get involved in any way we can.”

Alex Hylton said: ‘Crucially, we will be working with TixEvery, a ticketing partner who will be able to pay artists directly. This means artists can trust that their ticket revenue will be kept secure. We’ve got some amazing acts signed up already, I’m so excited for people to see what we’ve got up our sleeve when we announce the lineup later this year.’

Harrison Salter of TixEvery said ‘We’re really excited to be working with Alex and Colin as they launch the Independent Comedy Festival. Their commitment to creating a more transparent and fair relationship with the acts and promoters of the festival resonates with our ethos at TixEvery.

Most importantly, the financial relationship will sit directly between TixEvery and each artist or promoter. Funds generated from the face value of any ticket sales will not be accessible to the festival, which means we can make sure the people delivering the shows are paid directly and promptly.

We are very much looking forward to the partnership with Alex and Colin and also giving acts and promoters the much needed confidence to take part in next year’s festival.’

Alex Hylton added ‘The Independent Comedy Festival is looking for potential partners who can help launch the new festival and make this as good as it can be. We are looking to work with the local authority, businesses, venues and anybody else who believes they can help.’

The independent Comedy Festival will make further announcements in the coming days via their instagram page, found at @indiecomedyfest and their website www.indiecomedyfest.co.uk