The entertainment company ComediHa!, established in Quebec for years, will offer a brand new comedy festival in Montreal this summer. The event will take place from July 18 to 28, right when the Just for Laughs Festival was to be held, canceled in recent months due to the bankruptcy of the organizing group.
“Montréal has always been a hub for the comedy industry with its cultural, tourist and economic benefits. It would have been inconceivable that our metropolis would not have a festival worthy of the name this summer,” declared Sylvain Parent-Bédard, president and CEO of ComediHa!, in a press release on Wednesday, announcing the big news.
Remember that at the beginning of March, the Just for Laughs Group (JPR) completely shook the comedy world by announcing that it was taking shelter from its creditors due to an unsustainable financial situation. The 2024 edition of its popular festival was canceled immediately and the company laid off 75 people, or 70% of its workforce.
The new comedy festival created by ComediHa! in the metropolis is simply called “ComediHa! salutes Montreal.” It will benefit from a budget of 10 million dollars, specify the organizers. It comes at just the right time this year to mark the 25the anniversary of ComediHa! Fest organized in the Old Capital.
Several activities in this Montreal version will take place in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, on Place des Festivals, left vacant with the cancellation of the Just for Laughs Festival. Other shows are planned at Place des Arts, Espace St-Denis and the Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne.
The program remains unknown for the moment, details will be revealed in the coming weeks. The organizers specify, however, that there will be “comedy shows, galas and free outdoor performances”.
The ComediHa! had already announced in March to take over the torch of the musical Waitresswhose survival was threatened since the bankruptcy of JPR.