Have fun at Montreal comedy and jazz festivals

Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival presented by Videotron in association with Loto-Qu bec is the world's largest and most prestigious comedy festival. It represents: 23 days of laughter; 1.5 million festival-goers; more than 1,200 indoor and outdoor performances; more than 1,500 artists from 12 countries. This year, the Urban Arts will amaze you more than ever! Whether you are a carnival enthusiast, a music lover or a fan of acrobatics, you'll be able to take in tons of unique acts and breathtaking performances from July 17 to 25. It was Gilbert Rozon's idea to create the world's premier comedy festival as a way to spread joy and bring laughter to as many people as possible. He launched his extraordinary concept on July 14, 1983-just to see what it would be like, just to give it a try, just to have fun... and, most of all, just for laughs. Over four days, 16 artists performed 35 shows in four theatres to audiences totalling around 5,000 people. Now, 27 years later, close to 2,000 artists and over two million Festival-goers take part in the event, which is broadcast to millions of loyal viewers worldwide. But the true success of the Montreal Festival lies in the festive spirit that it has sowed among the general public and the way it has reinvented the very idea of comedy, year after year... and is still doing so! Today, the Group also produces Festivals in Toronto, Chicago and Paris. In addition to the Festivals, the Just For Laughs Group manages the careers of some 50 artists, produces shows, organizes tours and presents an average of 15 productions per year in both England and France and 20 in North America. With regard to television, Just For Laughs produces a number of shows that have been broadcast in 135 countries and on 95 airlines. The Just For Laughs Gags series is a groundbreaking hit: to date, it has been seen by millions of TV viewers across the globe, making it the world's number-one comedy show. Jazz Fest The Jazz Festival is held annually in Montreal during the summer season and gathers artists from around the world. It is typically attended by over 2 million people who are attracted by the electric atmosphere, diversity of shows and by the city itself. The festival reported on its website (below) in April 2008 that the attendance of the 2007 festival reached 2.1 million. Many parts of the city's downtown core are closed to traffic for ten days as outdoor shows are free to the public and on many stages at the same time, from noon till midnight. Attendance to some shows is over 100,000 and sometimes over 200,000. Shows are held in a wide variety of venues, from relatively small jazz clubs to the large halls of Place des Arts. Some of the outdoor shows are held on cordoned-off streets while others are on terraced parks. Typically there are well over 500 concerts offered during the span of 10 days, from noon to midnight, about 350 of which are outdoors and free to the public. It was announced that Motown music legend Stevie Wonder will help kick off the festival's 30th anniversary by holding a free outdoor concert open to the public on June 30, 2009 while Ben Harper closed off the festival on July 12. The first Montreal jazz festival was in 1980, with funding from Alain de Grosbois of CBC Stereo and T l -Qu bec. With Ray Charles, Vic Vogel, Chick Corea and Gary Burton on the bill, and an attendance of 12,000, the event was deemed a success, and has continued to grow since then. In 2000, the Festival teamed up with Distribution Select to release its 4-CD box set called Over 20 years of music - Plus de 20 ans de musique . The box includes a 13-page booklet with the biographies of the artists and complete liner notes about the music. A complete listing of the 2010 events and scheduled performers at the Montreal Jazz Festival is available online at www.montrealjazzfest.com. For those who can't get enough jazz, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a multimedia retrospective of the music icon Miles Davis, an exposition titled "We Want Miles." From April 30 to August 29, 2010, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is innovating once again with the presentation of the first major North American multimedia retrospective dedicated to jazz legend Miles Davis, who passed away in 1991. "We Want Miles": Miles Davis vs. Jazz will combine image and sound to offer visitors a sensory experience inspired by Miles Davis himself: "A painting is music you can see, and music is a painting you can hear." This exhibition was designed and organized by the Cit de la Musique, Paris, with the support of Miles Davis Properties, LLC, in collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Hockey Fans Come check out the brand new Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame, presented by Loto-Quebec, a one-of-a-kind shrine celebrating the history of hockey's most storied franchise. Located at the Bell Centre, the Hall of Fame offers you nearly 10,000 square feet of rare, never-before-seen artifacts and interactive content on a team that has built an unparalleled following of fans across the province, the country and the sport for over 100 years. Relive the Stanley Cups, the great rivalries, the legendary performances and more in the newly-minted Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame. Lose yourself in the exhibits, play journalist in a Q&A session with legendary captain Jean Beliveau, step inside a replica of a 1950s train car or experience a life-size version of the 1976-77 Canadiens dressing room. The Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame is a must-see destination for hockey fans of all ages.