Just for Laughs moving fall comedy festivals online
With no clear indication of when theatres will fully reopen or when large crowds will be permitted to gather, the Just for Laughs Group has confirmed it will move its festivals online this fall.
The Just for Laughs Festival, to take place Oct. 9 and 10, will be entirely virtual and consist of free interactive online gatherings, conversations, panels, performances and other events.
Its French-language sister festival, Juste pour rire, to run Sept. 29 to Oct. 10, will also feature online offerings, but the hope is, if Quebec health guidelines permit, it will be a hybrid of virtual performances and live and pre-recorded theatre shows.
“Assuming the new health measures are maintained, we’re thrilled to be able to offer a part of our festival before a live Montreal audience,” Charles Décarie, president and CEO of the Just for Laughs Group, said in an announcement on Tuesday.
“We’re sparing no effort to present the best festival possible, while respecting the health measures that are in force.”
Both festivals will be hosted on a new online platform that will have free access.
“We are so pleased to be giving comedy lovers around the world free access to the online portion of both of our festivals,” Décarie said. “We believe that in doing so we’re making sure that the best comedy from Quebec and around the world remains accessible to everyone and continues to widen its popular appeal.”
The Ethnic Show, The Nasty Show and the Bill Burr concert show are being rescheduled and will take place in 2021.
Programming details are still being worked out and should be made public in the next few weeks, but the online festivals are seen as an opportunity to rethink how comedy festivals can operate in a virtual space, says the Just For Laughs Group.
Corporate partners are La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services and Loto-québec; public partners are the City of Montreal, SODEC and the Government of Canada.