Great Outdoors Comedy Festival
Spokane is the only American spot to catch the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival next year.
Spokane is one of eight cities set to host the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival in 2024.
At a press conference on Tuesday morning, Matt Meyer, director of entertainment for the Spokane Public Facilities District, announced that the new ONE Spokane Stadium downtown has been chosen to host the festival from Aug. 23-25, 2024.
Though the festival lineup has yet to be announced, comedy juggernauts like David Spade, Chelsea Handler, Kevin Hart and Jerry Seinfeld have headlined the festival in recent years.
Spokane will be the lone American city in this year's lineup which includes Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax among other Canadian cities.
"It wasn't a decision where we were wracking our brains trying to see if we had the data to pull this off," Meyer says. "The Spokane community constantly sells out multi-night comedy shows, we can do this in a secondary market like Spokane."
Brennan McFaul, vice president of Nashville-based Trixstar Entertainment, says the team decided Spokane was the right community for the festival during a site visit in August.
"We met with a bunch of community partners who were so excited to have us," McFaul says. "We toured the stadium when it wasn't as complete as it is now, but it was then when we saw the potential of what this festival could look like here."
Historically the festival has been held in outdoor spaces, like public parks, but McFaul says that's why Spokane was chosen as a host city.
"The whole town is surrounded by the great outdoors," he says.
The lineup is set to be announced in early 2024.
"I can't say much about the lineup as it's still confidential," McFaul says. "But this year is trending to be our strongest lineup yet."
Festival organizers plan to bring local comedians in to do 'soapbox' performances on the stadium premises in order to encourage a true festival atmosphere and showcase local talent in various ways.
As for the future of ONE Spokane Stadium's entertainment lineup, Meyer says there are plenty of announcements to come.
"This is just our first announcement," Meyer says. "That doesn't mean it will be the first event. There have been conversations about concerts happening here as early as May. We're looking at a potential concert in the middle of July that would be a massive name. There's a lot more in the making."
For more information about the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival, visit greatoutdoorscomedyfestival.com.
