'A taste for everyone': Outdoor comedy festival bringing big names to 3-day run in Kinsmen Park
Kinsmen Park is ready to host thousands of people for what one organizer calls the "Coachella of comedy."
The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival returns to Edmonton on Friday with a sold-out opening night featuring Shane Gillis and Andrew Shulz.
Kevin Hart will headline Saturday's show and other big names will share the stage Sunday: Bert Kreischer, Whitney Cummings, Steph Tolev and Lisa Gilroy.
"We expect different audiences every night," said the festival's president Mike Anderson. "Comedy is very different and subjective – It's like fine wine.
"So there's a taste for everyone."
The comedy festival started in Edmonton in 2021. It has since expanded to eight North American cities and has grown from 7,000 to 200,000 visitors per year.
Anderson said it's now the largest festival of its kind, and he credits the event's success in part to the outdoor format and some glowing reviews from former participants like last year's headliner Bill Burr.
"He just raved and ranted on how amazing this experience was, went on his podcast the next morning and talked about that experience," Anderson said. "Right after we got the endorsement of Bill Burr, all the other comedians have started lining up saying, 'We want to play this.'"
The festival can seat 3,000, with space for another 7,000 people bringing their own chairs or blankets.
While Friday's general admission tickets were sold out by Thursday, tickets were still available for Saturday and Sunday.
The show is adult-only and general admission starts at $99.
For more information on the festival, visit the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6984995.1722465249!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Canadian military encounters Chinese research vessel in Arctic, warns competitors are 'probing' infrastructure
A Canadian warship on its first-ever Arctic patrol encountered a Chinese polar research vessel in the Bering Strait off Alaska earlier this month, as the Department of National Defence says global competitors are increasingly probing Canadian infrastructure and gathering intelligence in a warming Arctic.
British police charge 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that killed 3 children
British police say they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that killed three children in Southport, northwest England.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the main plotter of 9/11 attacks, agrees to plead guilty
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the main plotter in al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday, pointing to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that altered the course of the United States and much of the Middle East.
Father and son facing terror charges were planning 'serious violent attack in Toronto': RCMP
RCMP say a father and son who were arrested in Richmond Hill on terrorism charges last week were 'in the advanced stages of planning a serious violent attack in Toronto.'
Canada beats Colombia 1-0 in Olympic women's soccer to advance
Canada's women's soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Colombia 1-0 in a do-or-die match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Donald Trump falsely suggests Kamala Harris misled voters about her race
Donald Trump falsely suggested Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race as the former president appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago Wednesday in an interview that quickly turned hostile.
Lotto Max's $95M prize is up for grabs after no winner for previous draw
With no jackpot winner to claim the $70-million Lotto Max prize, the total prize pool for the next draw swells to $95 million.
How a cross-border conspiracy to smuggle drugs into B.C. on a Jet Ski unravelled
A 67-year-old man who planned to use a Jet Ski to smuggle more than 180 kilograms of fentanyl and methamphetamine into Canada was convicted in a Seattle courtroom Friday, after beachcombers found the drugs stashed in several duffel bags along the Washington state coastline.
Mother of Kirkland Lake, Ont., murder victim still waiting for answers
The mother of Lea Thompson, who was murdered last summer in Kirkland Lake, says she’s still waiting to find out exactly what happened to her daughter.