Welcome to theIndependent
Comedy Festival
We’re proud to announce that Leicester will be hosting one of the world’s biggest comedy festivals between 3rd-21st February 2027. Save the dates!
If you are a promoter who would like to put on shows as part of the festival, you are an organisation who would like to sponsor the Independent Comedy Festival or you believe you can help us in any other way:
Please visit the Contact us section for more info.
Who
we
are
Alex Hylton
Alex Hylton has worked in the UK comedy industry ever since he moved to Leicester in 2014. As a professional stand-up comedian he is a regular performer at some of the UK’s top comedy clubs, a seven-time veteran of the Edinburgh Fringe and is resident comperé at both Classroom Comedy Club and Anstey Comedy Club.
As a producer he is the director of Jokes on Us Comedy Club, an award-winning production company that proudly brings the best in live comedy to independent venues across the Midlands. He is a founder of both Anstey Comedy Festival and Gnosall Comedy Festival, Staffordshire.
Colin Bowles
Colin Bowles is a well regarded and multi award-winning independent promoter in Leicester putting on over a 1000 shows over the last 10 years from venues as small as 40 seats all the way up to 1400. Colin works with agents, tour producers and acts directly to put on a stunning array of comedy throughout the year.
His biggest shows include Sam Campbell, Fern Brady, Julian Clary and James Acaster as well as 12 Edinburgh Comedy Main Award Winners and 7 Taskmaster Champions. Venues he works with include De Montfort Hall, The Y Theatre, Sue Townsend Theatre, Firebug, Duffys and many more.
Our mission
Our goal is to bring Europe’s biggest comedy festival to Leicester each February, giving Leicestershire comedy fans a chance to catch the best in live comedy on their doorstep, offer a major boost to the city’s economy and provide an amazing platform for TV names, comedy circuit pros and rising stars to perform, safe in the knowledge that the festival will treat them fairly.
Equity Comedian’s Charter
Independent Comedy Festival is founded with the principle belief that the festival should be run in a responsible, ethical, inclusive and transparent fashion.
To this end, we have proudly signed up to Equity’s comedians charter. By doing this, we promise to provide
- Pay transparency to all artists and promoters
- A safe working environment for all artists and staff
- Late night safety for all artists and staff
- An effective anti-harassment and discrimination policy
Official ticketing partner
Crucially, we are pleased to be working with TixEvery as our official ticketing partner for 2027. As our ticketing partner, TixEvery will pay artists directly; ticket revenues will never be held by the Independent Comedy Festival. This means artists can trust that their ticket revenue will be kept secure.
Contact us
If you would like to be first to hear updates about Independent Comedy Festival, join our mailing list
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If you have a media enquiry, please contact:
[email protected]If you are a promoter who would like to be involved in the festival, please contact:
[email protected]If you would be interested in sponsoring the festival, Please contact:
[email protected]If you have any other queries, please use the form below
