Every summer, Canada is full of festivals. One of the most popular ones remain the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Just For Laughs Festival starts in July and lasts about two weeks.

Just For Laughs Festival was created in 1983 by Gilbert Rozon as a two-days francophone festival in Montreal. The following year, thanks to Andy Nulman, some anglophone events were added to the festival. With the aim of spreading laughs to as much people as possible, Just For Laughs in Montreal has become the largest Festival of its kind in the world.

Taking place mainly in the Latin Quarter of Montreal, the event gathers street performers, puppeteers or vocal and visual performers. Performing at the festival is a huge opportunity for unknown artists to showcase their act in front of industry professionals.

Although Just For Laughs Festival is more important in Montreal, it has now become popular beyond Montreal as festivals are also organized in Toronto since 2007 or Chicago since 2009.

The event is an opportunity for the audience to attend established comedians’ shows; indeed, artists such as Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Jerry Springer, Rowan Atkinson, Jason Alexander…attended the festival.

The casts of The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, South Park or Family Guy have also made appearances.

In 2010, the Montreal’s edition has included artists such as The Tap Dogs, Franck Dubosc, Edouard Baer, Rachid Badouri or Gregory Charles; and also street performers like Acrobuffos Waterbombs, Patrick Drake, Pink Cendrillon, Voalà Project and many more.

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Photo credits: Wikipedia