THE Great Yorkshire Fringe New Comedian of the Year 2015 competition is encouraging all manner of blossoming comic talent to take part in next year's inaugural event in York.

Heats will run throughout the Great Yorkshire Fringe from July 24 to August 1, culminating in the final on the last day of the ten-day festival, August 2.

The winning contestant will perform at London’s Leicester SquareTheatre, following in the footsteps of Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Sarah Millican and Bill Bailey, as well as receiving the coveted Golden Pudding Award and £500.The second place prize will be £250; third place, £150.

The competition is open to any non-professional act who has been performing for five years or less and entries are welcome from stand-up comedians, character, musical and variety acts and sketch groups. The only restriction is that all contestants must stick to five minutes of original material or risk disqualification.

Entries are on a first-come, first-served basis and entrants must be available for a heat at 5.30pm between July 24 and August 1 and the August 2 final. Entries will be accepted until all heat slots are full; successful entrants will be contacted by June 1 with their first round slot.

Visit greatyorkshirefringe.com/newcomedian to enter and to find out more.

Anne Taylor, from the Great Yorkshire Fringe, said: “Yorkshire is full of funny folk, and I know that we’ll have a blast seeing all the heats, culminating in the live final. The Leicester Square Theatre Fringe competitions over the past six years have launched the careers of some great names, and the Great Yorkshire Fringe New Comedian competition will be no different.

“The competition is a great addition to our line-up so far, and tickets are on sale for our fantastic shows as well as the heats and final of the New Comedian contest. We’ll be announcing more acts soon, so sign up to our newsletter and take a look at our website or find us on Facebook and Twitter.”

The Great Yorkshire Fringe will be a celebration of the weird, wise and wonderful in York and will see Parliament Street transformed into a vibrant performance space with four comedy venues and entertainment for young and old alike. Bars and food areas will serve up food and drink from the region.

The festival will celebrate all things Yorkshire and will have a quartet of purpose-built venues, The White Rose Rotunda, The BarmPot, The Turn Pot and The Tea Pot, with seating capacities ranging from 60 to 400.

Among the acts confirmed for next summer's festival is Stick Man, an original live-action adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s book, aimed at children aged three and over, and Henning Wehn, the German Comedy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who will perform his Eins, Zwei, DIY show.

The Supreme Fabulettes– The World Tour will find the all-male girl group combining slick choreography with vocal harmonies and couture outfits as they perform Glee-style mash-ups of 1960s' hits and contemporary songs, ranging from The Supremes to Adele.

Just Like That! The Tommy Cooper Show, an all-encapsulating fusion of magic, music and mirth, will run in the Tea Pot , direct from a West End run at the Museum of Comedy.

You can follow The Great Yorkshire Fringe at facebook.com/yorkfringe and twitter.com/yorkfringe, using the hashtag #funnyasowt. Tickets for the New Comedian heats and other events are on sale on 01904 500600.