Lost photos of comedy festival found by archivists
Leicester Comedy FestivalA collection of lost photographs of comedians has been found by a group of volunteers ahead of the Leicester Comedy Festival.
The Leicester Comedy Festival Archive Group, which formed last summer, made the discovery while cataloguing digital photos from the event's archive, which covers the last three decades.
Comedians in the photographs include Alan Carr, Chris McCausland, Nicholas Parsons, Johnny Vegas and festival patron Tony Slattery.
The festival, which began in 1994, returns to the city on Wednesday and runs until 23 February.
An archive day will be held on 22 February at De Montfort University (DMU) as part of the festival, allowing the public to view a selection of items from the collection.
Included in the library of images are comedians on stage, audiences and venues, some of which no longer exist.
Once the collection is completely catalogued, it will be added to the main festival archive, which is stored at DMU.
Leicester Comedy FestivalComedy festival founder Geoff Rowe set up the archive group, which meets every month.
He said: "I'm thrilled the group have already discovered photos that I thought had been lost.
"As we painstakingly go through all the digital images, and rename them, who knows what else we might find?
"The bunch of volunteers are doing an incredible job but there is always room for more so I would encourage people to get in touch if they want to help.
"The main criteria is to have some basic knowledge of comedians who have performed at Leicester Comedy Festival over the last 30 years."
The archive group has received funding from Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (LAHS) Public Heritage Fund.
Helen Sharp, chair of the fund, said: "The society recognises the huge importance of the festival to the city's cultural scene since the 1990s."
Once completed, the entire archive will be available to visit free of charge.
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