...amid row over money owed to comedians

Crisis-hit Leicester Comedy Festival has cancelled its outdoor summer festival with less than two weeks’ notice.

Lou Sanders,  Phil Ellis and Tom Rosenthal were among the acts slated to play the  LCF In The Park gig on June 14.

But organisers – who have been heavily criticised by comedians for leaving them unpaid for festival shows in February – have abruptly pulled the plug. 

There has been no public statement, but ticket-holders have been sent an email saying the gig has been axed  due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’, and the page for the event on the festival website has been deleted.

Those who bought tickets have been told they will get the £30 admission  price back within ten days – but will not be refunded their £3-a-ticket booking fees.

In April, Chortle was the first to report that hundreds of performers were still owed money from their festival ticket sales, with organisers The Big Difference Company blaming cash-flow problems. At the time, festival chiefs said they put their ‘operational expenditure’ over paying comedians.

However, when the BBC picked up the story last month, chief executive  Michael Harris-Wakelam then told them he was ‘prioritising’ artists ‘to the detriment of some of our other planned activities.’

Kiri Pritchard McLean and  Nabil Abdulrashid were also slated to take part in the LCF outdoor gig in Abbey Park with Harris-Wakelam previously saying proceeds would ‘help bring comedy programmes to local schools and libraries to improve youth cultural wellbeing and mental health, as well as supporting local emerging talent and comedians from underrepresented groups’.

The Big Difference Company is a charity which has an annual income of just under £500,000.

Chortle has approached Harris-Wakelam for further comment on the cancellation of LCF In The Park.

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Published: 4 Jun 2026