Harry Hill and Katherine Ryan appearing at Leicester Comedy Festival

The event runs from February 7 to 25 and sees a wide range of comedians coming to venues across the county.

It is the 25th anniversary of the festival and there are a wide range of events to mark the big birthday.

Other comedians include Jonathan Pie, Paul Chowdhry, Dave Spikey, Dr John Cooper Clarke, Griff Rhys Jones, Mark Steel and Richard Herring.

Continuing its theme of being the Official Comedy Party, Leicester Comedy Festival plans to build on the success of the last 25 years and continue in its mission to get the UK laughing again.

And with a huge variety of unique events, performances and discussions, anyone can join the party in 2018 – just get to Leicester in February and be immersed in the festival spirit.

One of the biggest events is an in-depth interview with Harry Hill, who performed at the very first festival.

Since then Harry has come a long way and he is now one of the UK’s most loved comedians.

Multi award-winner Hill has presented numerous TV and radio shows, and in autumn 2017 he published his latest book Matt Millz, about the youngest stand-up comedian in the world. The in-depth interview will be conducted by festival director, Geoff Rowe.

There will also be an interview with the comedian Dave Johns.

Dave has long been one of the most respected comedians working in the UK, however, he almost gave up comedy to manage donkey rides at Whitley Bay. In this interview with Geoff Rowe, Johns will talk about getting the call from film director Ken Loach and starring in the Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning film, I, Daniel Blake in 2016.

Several of the regular events including the pun championships will be returning to the festival.

Tickets for many of the shows are likely to sell out fast so people are advised to book tickets in advance.

For further information about the show or to book tickets in advance visit www.comedy-festival.co.uk