Leicester Comedy Festival hardship fund launched
The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has today launched a fundraising campaign to support acts, promoters and other people affected by the non payment of money from Big Difference Company, the producers of Leicester Comedy Festival. The initial target is £30,000 and the process for people to apply for support will be announced shortly. This fund follows the £5,000 which was distributed by the LCA last month.
Donations can be made via: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/lcfsupportfund
Following Leicester Comedy Festival 2026, the producers of the festival (registered charity Big Difference Company) announced they were unable to pay comedians and promoters ticket money from shows. To date, the majority of ticket monies have not been sent to acts or promoters and on July 21st Big Difference Company submitted a serious incident report to the Charity Commission over its ongoing financial issues.
All the funds raised will go directly towards assisting those individuals and promoters/venues and staff, helping to alleviate some of the financial burden they are currently experiencing. All claims will be verified and the LCA will make payments within one month of the application deadline.
Jessica Toomey, Director of Live Comedy Association, said: “One of the issues is we don't know how many people are affected by the situation but we estimate it is potentially hundreds of comedians, and dozens of promoters and venues. The vast majority are freelancers or sole traders who can't afford to just lose their money and not receive anything. In our world there is no safety net or official support for people who don’t get paid money due to them. We hope the national live comedy community will be able to support people affected by the situation.”
The Live Comedy Association is a not for profit, Community Interest Company formed in 2020, and is supported by a board of Directors and an Advisory Panel made up of people working in the industry. Members include comedians, comedy clubs, promoters, venues, festivals and other people who rely on live comedy to earn their living.
