People who are passionate about comedy are being invited to join an Awards Panel for Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2016.

The panel, made up of comedy fans from across the UK, will get VIP treatment during the 19 day festival, as they get to see more comedy than most and decide on the final award winners. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony which will take place after the 2016 festival.

Previous nominees and winners of awards include Jen Brister, Marcel Lucont, Jonny & The Baptists, Ian Hall, Ahir Shah, Andrew O'Neill, Romesh Ranganathan, Chris Stokes, Chris McCausland, Matt Richardson, Laura Solon, New Art Club, Greg Davies, Mark Olver, Matt Green, David Morgan, Alfie Brown, Vikki Stone, Stuart Goldsmith, WitTank, Terry Saunders and George Ryegold.

Alexei Sayle attended the 2015 ceremony to receive the Legend of Comedy Award on behalf of posthumous winner Rik Mayall.

The festival runs from 3-21 February and applicants, who must be aged over 18, must be able to be in Leicester for one week during the festival period. Further details are available by visiting www.comedy-festival.co.uk or by email to kate@bigdifferencecompany.co.uk

The awards were launched in 2006 and are designed to recognise the artists and promoters who are involved in the annual event. The judging panel gives members of the public a voice in the voting procedure and is a great opportunity for comedy fans. There are ten awards, four of which are decided upon by the awards panel:
Best New Show
Best Leicester Debut Show
Best Venue (under 200 capacity)
Best Venue (over 200 capacity)

One of the past judges, David Blackett says: "What can I say about being a judge? I can honestly say it's one of the best experiences I have gone through. Not only did I see more comedy than I could have dreamed, it gave me the chance to explore some wonderful parts of Leicester I hadn't visited and I made some truly fabulous friends."

Festival founder and Director, Geoff Rowe, said: "The Awards Panel has become a critical part of the annual festival and comedians who are nominated recognise and appreciate the importance of the awards. The lucky members of the panel work really hard during the 19 day festival, often running from show to show to see as much as possible. We hope we'll get a good range of applications from people keen to indulge their passion for comedy who will love to be part of the team spotting the cream of the great talent that will be on show next February. For comedy fans it's like being in heaven - seeing hours of some of the best live comedy around."

The Preview Show, the launch show for Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2016, will take place at De Montfort Hall, Leicester on Friday 8th January. The show will be hosted by Lee Nelson and tickets are now on sale via the box office: 0116 233 3111.