Leicester's stats for record festival

Organisers of Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival are claiming this year’s was the ‘most successful ever’ after releasing figures about the event.

The 17-day festival featured 1,000 performers appearing in 522 events, of which 61 sold out, to a total audience of 89,000.

Shows have been getting cheaper for punters, too, with the average ticket price standing at £6.18, compared with £7.06 in 2012.

Research carried out by the city’s De Montfort University showed that visitors spent an average of £35.89 on tickets, meaning each they saw an average of around six shows apiece.

Taking into account costs of travel, food and drink, hotels, organisers say a total of £1.7million was spent directly on the festival in February, generating a total economic impact of £3million.

Festival director, Geoff Rowe said: ‘We continue to make a significant contribution to Leicester and the UK comedy scene.’

One of the comedians who took part in the festival, Paul Currie, said: ‘I've never seen or been part of an international festival that felt so local and cosy and warm and welcoming.’

This was the 20th year of the event, the longest dedicated comedy event in Europe. Next year’s takes place from February 7 to 23.

Published: 29 May 2013