Great Outdoors Comedy Festival bringing 3 big names to Halifax this weekend

The stage is being set for the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival at the Garrison Grounds in Halifax. (CTV/Katie Kelly)

The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival is hitting Halifax this weekend, and it’s bringing three comedy heavyweights to town.

Crews are hard at work on the Garrison Grounds, setting up for this weekend’s big event.

“So the stage that we have is one-of-a-kind,” said Justin Lee, who is selling merchandise for the festival. “It's got two massive screens, the background screen is there, the comedians look this big and a stage massive you can see them forever.”

The headliners of this year’s event includes Nate Bargatze on Friday, Tom Segura on Saturday, and Theo Von on Sunday.

“For people coming for the first time, if you've only experienced comedy in a small setting in, like, a club in New York or something, the difference is unreal,” said Lee.

Lee, a Cape Breton native, designs and produces merchandise for the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival as it tours across the country. He’s even made some unique items for the comedians.

“We have a ton of artist merch coming in for Tom Segura on Saturday and Theo Von on Sunday. I've personally designed and produced some merch for both of those guys that will be available on Saturday and Sunday as well,” he said.

He says this weekend’s festival is a “one-of-a-kind” and people will not be disappointed.

“There are all kinds of different events going on throughout the openers, so we've got musical acts, our hosts will wander the audience talk to some of the people,” said Lee.

“There's AAA comedians, there's fantastic merch, there's great food, the people and the vibe is fantastic.”

Canadian comic Gerry Dee is also on the lineup, and he says he’s really impressed by the festival.

“I think it's great what they've done. It's bringing in massive names, you know, Nate Bargatze, who I'm with, he's the headliner. I think he's the best in the world right now, in my opinion. Every clip I've ever seen I’ve shaken my head [from] how easy it may he makes it look,” said Dee in an interview with CTV News Atlantic’s Katie Kelly on Thursday.

The festival takes place at the Garrison Grounds this weekend from Friday until Sunday.

With files from CTV's Katie Kelly. 

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