BIG win for Harborough district comedy event

The awards ceremony held at St Martins House in Leicester honoured the comedians, venues, promoters and volunteers that made the 2019 Leicester Comedy Festival so successful, with Harborough District Council and the BIG Weekend coming out on top in a tough category that included Leicester Cathedral, Kids Comedy Spot and Braunstone Gate Fringe.

The inaugural BIG Weekend in Market Harborough took place in February 2019 as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival and saw Harborough District Council bring some top comedy acts to the district with venues such as Harborough Market, The Angel Hotel, Harborough Theatre, Beerhouse and Duncan Murray Wines hosting comedy events over the course of a long weekend to huge success and positive feedback.

The Liberty Award was given in honour of events that embodied the spirit of the Comedy Festival.

Mark Perris, Head of Economic Development at Harborough District Council, said:  “This award is recognition for the hard work of all the staff, venues and volunteers that helped make this event happen. There was great support from the public too, which was integral to making the event a success. We look forward to more of the same when the BIG Weekend returns in February 2020 and encourage venues from all over the Harborough District to get involved to make the event even bigger and better.”

Geoff Rowe, Leicester Comedy Festival Director said: “We were delighted to recognise the fantastic contribution Harborough District Council, working with local venues, promoters and volunteers, made to Leicester Comedy Festival 2019.  Presenting them with the Liberty Award showed how much the BIG Weekend added to the Festival atmosphere across Leicester & Leicestershire and extended the reach of the Festival in February.  The events hosted as part of the BIG Weekend were really successful and we hope to continue working with partners in future years.”

Building on the success of the 2019 BIG Weekend, Harborough District Council is delighted to announce that they will sponsor the 2020 event, with work now underway to sign up venues for next year.

Any  venues in the Harborough district interested in taking part in 2020 can contact s.butt@harborough.gov.uk

Pictured: (l-r) Rebecca Lees, Hayley McHugo, Mark Perris, Sairah Butt, of HDC, Jo Herdman (BIG Weekend volunteer coordinator) and Geoff Rowe (festival director). Below - the Liberty Award