We are thrilled to sponsor the Leicester Comedian of the Year 2026 award as part of Big Difference Company’s Leicester Comedy Festival. As part of this partnership, the award will be renamed the ‘Howes Percival Leicester Comedian of the Year’.
The competition has been running for more than 30 years and has a strong reputation for recognising future stars, with previous winners including, Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford, Josh Widdicombe, and Romesh Ranganathan.
The Leicester Comedy Festival is the UK’s biggest and longest running comedy festival, with over 700 shows taking place across Leicestershire.
The festival is organised by Big Difference Company, a charity which aims to promote health, wellbeing, inclusion, diversity, environment and sustainability through the arts and promote comedy as an artform which can educate and inspire.
Michael Harris-Wakelam said,
We are delighted to be strengthening our relationship with Howes Percival even further with this support for one of our longest running events designed to support and nurture talent. This is an event that is held in high esteem across the UK live comedy sector and is seen as a launch pad for the finalists, with many of them going on to have significant careers in live entertainment. What could be better than celebrating that opportunity with a company who shares the same values as us around support and development. We look forward to seeing the partnership come to life this February as we crown the winner of the competition.
Howes Percival Partner, Gary Pitt said,
We have a longstanding relationship with The Big Difference Company and the Leicester Comedy Festival, and we are thrilled to be able to continue supporting the incredible work they do. The Leicester Comedian of the Year competition is a real institution and provides a catapult for emerging talent. The festival creates a real buzz in the city and I’m looking forward to enjoying as much as I can of this year’s brilliant programme. On a personal note, the festival really does put the city on the map, and was one of the reasons I came to the University of Leicester 18 years ago.
The festival kicks off on 4 February and runs until 22 February 2026. The Howes Percival Leicester Comedian of the Year competition will take place at The Y Theatre on Saturday 21 February, and the full list of nominees can be found here.
