Travel Information

What venue(s) will be a part of the festival?

All performances will take place at Vermont Comedy Club, a 160-seat standup & improv venue located in the heart of downtown Burlington, VT. The club has its own separate classroom, as well as a lounge with food and a full bar, so many social and educational events will also take place onsite during the festival. There will also be fun excursions to other places (most of them walkable to the club) in the downtown area during the daytime.


What lodging options are available?

There is a hotel onsite (Hilton Garden Inn, 101 Main Street Burlington), but we are also looking at building relationships with some area hotels and hostels for the weekend - stay tuned to http://bigpondimprov.com for details.


What transportation options are available?

Uber and Lyft are readily available, and the BTV airport is just a few miles outside town (flights land there but also buses let off there). Once you're here, you shouldn't need a car unless you plan to leave town to go hiking, see the Ben & Jerry's factory, etc.


What dining options are available?

Vermont Comedy Club has a nice menu of reasonably priced casual food items (menu available at vtcomedy.com). There are tons of restaurants in walking distance as well, many with a focus on farm to table, vegetarian or organic fare, etc.


What local events or attractions are available?

Again we are still working on a comprehensive list of this stuff, and hoping to be able to offer free comps for performers to take part in some of the cool stuff around town. Check http://bigpondimprov.com for developing details.

Festival Information

How much stage time will performers receive?

Most teams will have a 17-minute set. There will be some exceptions to this (shorter or longer).


What is the range of shows and styles the festival is seeking?

We are looking for a stylistic variety of QUALITY improv teams. Form is nowhere near as important as quality, inventiveness, and FUN.


What is the local improv scene like?

We have a small but rapidly growing scene here, with a handful of great indie teams, two mainstage teams, and lots of excitement around the future of improv in Vermont. Vermont Comedy Club has 6 levels of classes, most of which are full at the moment, and the scene is hungry to learn from other people and develop their skills.


What are the festival's goals?

We want this festival to inspire local improvisers by exposing them to new/different ways of thinking about improv. We also see it as a way for like minded improvisers to meet and get to know each other. And of course, we want to raise the profile of improv in Vermont so residents here will come see improv shows the whole year round.


What are the selection criteria for this festival?

We will be watching every video and reading every submission carefully in order to curate an exciting lineup with stylistic variety for the festival.


What unique improv experiences will performers gain?

TOO MANY FUN THINGS TO NAME. Keep an eye on http://bigpondimprov.com for emerging info!