...and this one vows to pay its comedians

A new festival is to emerge from the ashes of the collapsed Leicester Comedy Festival.

The project is being put together by some of the comedians and promoters owed money by the previous organisers, The Big Difference Company, which went into insolvency this month.

Called The Independent Comedy Festival, it will take place at the same time of year, February, and will again feature hundreds of shows in many of the same venues.

And they have promised a business model that ensures comedians get paid.

One of the organisers is comedian Alex Hylton, pictured, who lives in Leicester and is compere at many of the city’s established venues.

He said: ‘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.

He added that the festival will be ‘run responsibly by people from the industry who will give the festival the love that it needs’.

Hylton founded the festival with Colin Bowles, who puts on shows at several venues across Leicester through his company TripleCeePee. He vowed the event would ‘continue the legacy’ established by the previous festival.

Mark Watson, who also runs production company Impatient, said he would be supporting the new venture.  He said:  ‘Leicester as a city has supported a unique, hugely valuable festival for many years now, and [the collapse of Big Difference] 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.’

Leicester City Council – one of the main partners of the collapsed festival – previously vowed to do what it could help maintain a comedy event in the city. 

 Hundreds of comedians, producers and promoters owed money for performing at this year’s festival are likely to go unpaid after  The Big Difference Company  – a registered charity – declared itself insolvent and ceased trading.  Venue operator Just The Tonic have said they are owed more than £13,000 in ticket sales only from the collapse. 

The Independent Comedy Festival will be working with ticket platform TixEvery, which would pay comedians directly, with the festival having no access to box office receipts.

 ‘Artists can trust that their ticket revenue will be kept secure,’ Hylton said.

And speaking of which comedians might be coming to the city in February, he said: ‘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.’

News of the new festival has been welcomed by The Live Comedy Association, with chair Jessica Toomey saying: ‘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.’

Hylton added that he was looking to work with the local authority, businesses, venues ‘and anybody else who believes they can help.’

The festival has set up a website at www.indiecomedyfest.co.uk

Published: 11 Aug 2026