Recent Talks at Leicester U3A

The Leicester Comedy Festival
A talk by Geoff Rowe for Leicester U3A
Held on Tuesday 12th October 2021, 2.45pm, at Christchurch Clarendon Park, 105a Clarendon Park Road, Leicester LE2 3AH
The Leicester Comedy Festival has been a fixture in the city’s social calendar since 1994 and has featured established and up and coming artists like Jasper Carrott, Jo Brand, Sarah Millican and Romesh Ranganathan. The talk by Festival’s founding Director, Geoff Rowe, will feature highlights from the long history of the event.
Geoff Rowe has led the development of the annual Leicester Comedy Festival since 1994, and in 2019 set up the UK Kids’ Comedy Festival. The first festival in 1994 featured artists including Rhona Cameron, Harry Hill and Nick Park, who had just won his first Oscar for Wallace and Gromit. Since then, the festival has attracted over 4,300 comedians to Leicester. In 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from De Montfort University and in 2013 a British Empire Medal as part of the Queen’s birthday honours.
Geoff has produced comedy performances, both in Leicester and across the UK, including the annual Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year, Comedy in the Dark, The Preview Show, Old Folks Telling Jokes, Comedy Heaven and the official tribute show to Sir Norman Wisdom OBE.

Sounds of the Suburbs: Clarendon Park and Stoneygate
A talk by Caroline Roberts for Leicester U3A
Held on Tuesday 9th November 2021, 2.30 pm at Christchurch Clarendon Park, 105a Clarendon Park Road, Leicester LE2 3AH
Location, location, location!
“Location, location, location” is a talk about those who “made it” in Leicester and couldn’t wait to get out of the centre of the town and created new suburbs to the south. Who lived in Stoneygate and who created Clarendon Park? Hear the stories of the people who moved into two of Leicester’s most fascinating areas!
Caroline Roberts has been a Blue Badge Guide for the Heart of England, especially Leicester, for over 25years. She is Leicester born and from a family that had ties to the hosiery, leather and tobacco trades in the town from the 19th century. A teacher by training, she has promoted the City to all age groups, (been helped by the discovery of Richard lll and the recent successes of Leicester City!) and is the Guide to the Lord Mayor of Leicester at the Town and City Halls.