Leicester Comedy Festival sorts out its archive

A collection of lost photographs of comedians appearing at the Leicester Comedy Festival since its foundation 30 year ago has been unearthed.

Volunteers archive and cataloguing material from the event have found pictures of he lines of Alan Carr, Chris McCausland, Nicholas Parsons, Johnny Vegas (above in 1997, the year he won the Leicester Comedian Of The Year award) and festival patron Tony Slattery. 

Tony Slattery in 1997

Many of the item are going on display at a free event on February 22 as part of this year’s festival.

The library of images includes pictures of comedians performing on stage, as well as images of festival audiences and venues, many of which were vital parts of Leicester’s cultural scene but no longer exist.  

Once the collection has been catalogued it will be included in the main festival archive at De Montfort University.  It is believed that the entire archive is one of the most comprehensive collections of British comedy.

Nicholas Parsons in 2018

Festival founder Geoff Rowe, who set up the group, said: ‘I’m thrilled the group have already discovered photos that I thought had been lost. 

‘As we painstakingly go through all the digital images, and rename them, who knows what else we might find?  The bunch of volunteers are doing an incredible job but there is always room for more so I would encourage people to get in touch if they want to help.  The main criteria is to have some basic knowledge of comedians who have performed at Leicester Comedy Festival over the last 30 years."’

Once completed, the entire archive will be available for students, academic and comedy fans from across the UK to visit free of charge. 

The archive group has recently received funding from Leicestershire Archaeological & Historical Society, whose chair  Helen Sharp said: ‘It will be fantastic to see the archive of the UK’s biggest comedy festival preserved and made publicly accessible. The society recognises the huge importance of the festival to the city’s cultural scene since the 1990s.’

Published: 3 Feb 2025