The Montreal company that operates the Just for Laughs comedy festival has cancelled this year’s edition as it seeks to avoid bankruptcy.
Groupe Juste pour rire Inc. said in a news release Tuesday that it is seeking protection from its creditors as it begins formal restructuring under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
The company said it plans to continue operations “in a scaled-down format” as it restructures and that it hopes the festival will return in 2025.
“The decision to initiate restructuring proceedings was reached after thorough consideration of all options available to the company, taking into account its very difficult financial situation given the significant changes in our business landscape in recent years,” the company said.
Julien Provencher-Proulx, a spokesman for Groupe Juste pour rire, confirmed that 75 employees, around 70 per cent of its workers, were laid off Tuesday.
Tickets for the French and English comedy festivals in Montreal this summer remained on sale on the company’s website Tuesday.
In addition to those festivals, a number of other performances in Quebec have also been cancelled.
Provencher-Proulx wrote in an email that people who have purchased tickets can return them to the box office where they were purchased or contact their credit card company if they purchased tickets directly from the festival.
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The Toronto Just for Laughs festival, set to take place in September, is run by a separate organization and has not been cancelled, Provencher-Proulx said.
Juste pour rire, which held its first festival in Montreal in 1983, blamed its financial woes on a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and the changing entertainment industry. It said COVID forced it “to effectively cease operations for two years.”
The company, whose officials declined interview requests, said it is looking for new investors, or buyers for parts of its business, and that it hopes to preserve operations “as much as possible.”
It had laid off another 21 employees in December, according to a notice filed with Quebec’s Labour Department.
The company is 51 per cent owned by Bell and Montreal event promoter Evenko, while Los Angeles-based talent agency Creative Artists Agency owns 49 per cent. The festival has presented many of the biggest names in standup comedy, including Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld.
In addition to ticketed indoor shows, the French and English festivals featured free outdoor performances.
Martin Roy, the CEO of Quebec festival association the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux, said that while he’s saddened by the news, he’s not surprised.
“We’ve been saying for months, even years, that things are not going well in the festival sector, in particular for the festivals that are presented free of charge, among others, in downtown Montreal,” he said in an interview.
Inflation has pushed the price of hosting a festival up by 35 to 40 per cent since 2019, he said.
Reaction to the news started pouring in on X, formerly Twitter, with many saddened by the cancellation of the popular festival.
“Unfathomable” and a “big loss” were some just some of the reactions, with one commentator pointing out the potential economic fallout for the city from lost tourism dollars.
— With files from Global News’ Annabelle Olivier, The Canadian Press’ Stéphane Rolland
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