The Leicester Comedy Festival is ready to 'take over' Coalville, Ashby and the National Forest this week.

North West Leicestershire - as a region - will be hosting a Big Weekend of comedy shows for the first time.

The shows start in Ashby's Lyric Rooms on Wednesday night with Tom Binns as the The Psychic Comedium.

Zoe Lyons is the headline act on Thursday at the same venue while Coalville's Century Theatre hosts Lloyd Griffith on Saturday night.

Conkers at Moira will also be staging shows and, as well as the adults, there will be special events for children.

Festival director Geoff Rowe explained why the event has come to North West Leicestershire.

"We've always done things in the city and the county ever since the festival was set up in 1994," he told Ashby Nub News.

"It's grown and morphed into a project called the Big Weekend where we take over a town or location in the county and increase the promotion for events under that umbrella.

"We're working for the first time with the National Forest, Coalville and Ashby to put on a really varied programme.

"One of the great things about it is that it's representative of the entire festival programme, what I mean by that is that you have a mixture of famous and local people as well as getting local children and schools involved.

"What we have been impressed by is the support we've had in these towns, there are comedy clubs in Coalville and Ashby. The guys who promtesd those regularly have been involved along with the district council.

"And for some of those names to be performing here is really postive.

"As is some of the community work with primary schools particularly. It's important to get that balance right."

Geoff says it is not the first time the festival has visited Coalville.

"We've done stuff at the Century Theatre before but this time we've joined forces with the council to increase the number of venues involved," he explained.

"The Lyric Rooms in Ashby has never been involved before, nor has conkers.

"There is an appetite for comedy, maybe now so more than ever people want to go and have a good night out!"

And Geoff says that once these shows have been and gone, some of the audience will want to know what is happening with shows in Leicester.

"We get about a third of our audience comes from across the UK, that's maybe 30-40,000 people," he said.

"But people who are closer to Leicester can drive down the road and see what's on."

Here is what you can see in North West Leicestershire this week.

• February 5: The Lyric Rooms, Tom Binns as The Psychic Comedium. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/tom-binns/

• February 6: The Lyric Rooms, Funhouse Comedy Club featuring Zoe Lyons. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/funhouse-comedy-club-the-lyric-rooms/

• February 7: A Night With Lee Lard: Peter Kay Tribute, Conkers. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/a-night-with-lee-lard-peter-kay-tribute/

• February 8: Funhouse Comedy Club featuring Lloyd Griffith, Century Theatre, Coalville. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/funhouse-comedy-club/

• February 8: Comedy Night at Conkers. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/comedy-night-at-conkers/

• February 9: Elite Gaming Lounge Coalville, Comedy Quiz Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/elite-gaming-lounges-comedy-quiz/

• For the kids: February 6: Giggly Wriggly Readers at Coalville Library FREE. https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/giggly-wriggly-readers-coalville-library

• February 7: Giggly Wriggly Readers at Ashby Library. FREE. https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/giggly-wriggly-readers/

• February 8: Funny Folk Tales and Silly Stories at Coalville Library. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/funny-folk-tales-and-silly-stories-from-tom-the-tale-teller/

ª February 8: National Forest's Funniest Kids at The Century Theatre. Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/national-forests-funniest-kids/

ª February 8: Kids Comedy at Conkers Tickets: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/kids-comedy-at-conkers/