De Montfort University has announced increased sponsorship of Leicester Comedy Festival. The university - where the festival began back in 1994 – has confirmed it will be a main sponsor of Leicester Comedy Festival 2017, which runs from 8-26 February.
The sponsorship deal will allow for greater involvement of DMU students in all areas of the festival, in addition to supporting the Stand Up Challenge, taking place in November.
Funnyman Nish Kumar is a regular at the comedy festivalLeicester Comedy Festival was set up in 1994 when a group of Arts Management students studying at DMU decided to host the event as part of their final year practical project.
That first festival was a huge success and after graduating, Geoff Rowe decided to continue the festival and he has led the development of the annual event ever since.
The festival now regularly features more than 800 shows in 67 venues, and has been cited as “one of the best comedy festivals in the world” by The Guardian.
DMU & Leicester Comedy Festival have worked closely together once the past 23 years and this new partnership will see activities increase. Past examples include Arts & Festivals
Management students running shows at festival venues, Media & Communication students producing podcasts featuring interviews with comedians, as well as performances at DSU, the university’s student union.
Nicholas Parsons was interviewed about his career by Geoff at DMU last yearThe new partnership will form part of DMUlocal, the university’s flagship programme to promote Leicester by focusing and supporting groups and events which demonstrate intellectual, cultural and sporting excellence across the city.
DMUlocal is an extension of the award-winning DMU Square Mile, which has been sharing the skills of staff and students to benefit the communities across the city for the past five years.
Professor Dominic Shellard, DMU vice-chancellor, said: “The Leicester Comedy Festival is one of the best events this city has to offer and we’re very proud it began here at DMU.
“We’re looking forward to strengthening our partnership with Geoff and the team and offering more opportunities for our students to get involved in projects which celebrate the city, in the true spirit of DMUlocal.”
Geoff Rowe, founder and Director of Leicester Comedy Festival said: “We are delighted to be developing our partnership with DMU and look forward to working more closely with the staff and students as we continue to plan for Leicester Comedy Festival 2017.
“Our work with DMU has always been exciting and ambitious and we are thrilled they have confirmed additional sponsorship for the event.”
A community project delivered by Leicester Comedy Festival, which involved primary school pupils from Leicestershire, was recently awarded the main “child centred teaching” award at the 2016 UK eTwinning Awards, organised by the British Council.
“Loving Laughing”, which was hosted at DMU, involved pupils exchanging jokes and funny stories online with children from schools across Europe and the final event was held at DMU as part of Leicester Comedy Festival 2016.
Posted on Thursday 21 July 2016