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2025 National Festival registration information coming in early 2025. See below for photos and information about the 2024 National Festival hosted in Ottawa March 27-30, 2024
Looking to buy tickets to the shows? You should ONLY purchase your tickets through the National Arts Centre’s official Website! You can find those tickets here!
The Canadian Improv Games National Festival is an immersive educational experience that fosters creativity and camaraderie. Through improvisational theater, students develop valuable life skills, forge lasting connections, and grow in a supportive, inclusive community. The Festival offers 4 days of specialized workshops and learning opportunities from experienced improvisers and instructors from across Canada, as well as four nights of performances from the best teams in the country! Registration for non-Ottawa teams is closed.
Ottawa-based teams may register for the festival up until March 24th, 2024. Interested schools should contact operations@improv.ca.
Read more in our Nationals 2024 Info Package.
Have you ever wanted to see your local CIG volunteers try out an event? Well, wait no longer! We are kicking off our 2024 National Festival with the Alumni Showcase. On Tuesday March 26th at the ArtsCourt Theatre, watch CIG alum from Newfoundland to Victoria come together in the spirit of loving competition to celebrate the Canadian Improv Games. Get ready to cooperate with one another, to learn from each other, to commit ourselves to the moment, and above all, to have a good time!
Doors open at 7:00 PM and the show begins at 7:30 PM. You can get your tickets right here!
Long-form Demo: What does improv look like outside of four minutes? The answer is at the Long-form Demo. This is a staff showcase event where improvisers from coast to coast will get on stage and showcase a long-form set. Come see improvisers from a variety of improv troupes from across Canada play on stage.
Wrap Party: We’ve worked hard and played hard all week, time to shake it off and get down at our annual Closing Night Dance Party! Come dance & hang out with all your amazing new friends as we say goodbye to another wonderful year of Improv. There will be a quiet zone for students who want a more chill experience.
Make Good Choices!: Okay, so you’ve got your first offers in place. Your scene is looking good – and then what? What can you do to keep your scene rolling? This workshop will help!
Commit to THIS moment: It’s in the oath- but what does it mean to commit to a moment? In this workshop you’ll get out of your head and onto the stage!
Movement and Physicality: Improv doesn’t have to be verbal. Sometimes physical improv can pick up where words leave off. This advanced workshop will explore incredibly physical improv and how to use it in the CIG context.
Silence and Sincerity: Let’s all just slow down and listen. How can we show sincerity in our scenes without talking? Take this workshop to find out how!
Dynamic Characters: Characters aren’t just how they talk- they’re also how they MOVE! This workshop will infuse some physicality into your unique characters!
ADVANCED: Long-form: If learning how to improvise outside the parameters of a four minute scene is something you’ve always wanted – this workshop is for you!
The Canadian Improv Games also offers a Teachers Conference that runs in conjunction with the National Festival & Tournament. The Conference is open to all teachers across Canada whether they bring a student team to participate in the National Festival & Tournament or not!
This exciting and hands-on conference will give drama and english language arts teachers lots of games, activities and strategies for improving student’s speaking and listening skills as well as help get teachers comfortable introducing improvisational theatre into their professional practice. Teachers can expect to work with veteran improvisors, coaches and theatrical performers to learn how to bring improv into their classroom. Improvisational theatre is a great cross-curricular teaching methodology in all subjects that engages students and activates their learning in meaningful ways.
Our Conference includes tickets to nights of performance, improv demonstrations from our senior performers, and workshops on topics such as barriers in teaching improv and how to build an improv lesson plan.
The Teacher’s Conference will be held from March 27-30th in Ottawa, ON, in conjunction with the National Festival. Teachers can attend the Conference with or without a student team. If you are registering a student team for the National Festival, the Teacher’s Conference is included in the registration fees. If you are attending without a student team, the cost of the National Festival is $75 for one day, $150 for two days and $200 for the full week!
The Conference will be hosted in Les Suites, Ottawa. Accommodations are arranged through the hotel manager Steven Carnaffan at Steven.Carnaffan@innvesthotels.com. With the Canadian Improv Games rate, an individual room costs $209/night.
Nationals Pricing Tiers
Day Pass – $75/student
Two workshops, each two hours in length, with an experienced CIG trainer
One ticket to one evening show at the National Arts Centre
Two Day Pass – $150/student
Four workshops, each two hours in length, with an experienced CIG trainer
Tickets to two shows at the National Arts Centre
Festival Pass – $200/student
Six workshops, each two hours in length, with an experienced CIG trainer
Tickets to all National Tournament shows at the National Arts Centre
More details coming soon!
Les Suites Hotel
The Les Suites Hotel Ottawa is located at 130 Besserer Street, Ottawa. Located just steps from the historic ByWard Market and Parliament Hill. Each room is equipped with a full kitchen and sizable living room. As the official hotel partner of the National Festival, CIG offers a special rate with Les Suites hotel.
How to Book
Rooms at Les Suites can be booked through the hotel. Once you register, we will put you in contact with the hotel and you can book your rooms. The hotel will automatically book your school’s rooms on the same floor as the rest of the Festival. In the event that your team becomes your regional winner, you will be reimbursed for your hotel room costs.
Pricing
Performing Team Schedule – Nationals 2024
Wednesday March 27:
Notre Dame High School (Ottawa, ON, Ottawa Tournament Team 1)
Gulf Island Secondary School (Van Isle Tournament, Saltspring Island, BC)
Harry Ainlay High School (Alberta Tournament, Edmonton, Alberta)
Ladysmith Secondary School (Online Wildcard Team, Ladysmith, British Columbia)
Cairine Wilson Secondary School (Ottawa, ON, Ottawa Tournament Team 3)
Thursday March 28
R.E. Mountain Secondary School (Lower Mainland Tournament, Langley Township, British Columbia)
Luther High School (Distance Tournament, Regina, Saskatchewan)
Eastside Secondary School (Kingston Tournament, Belleville, Ontario)
Mayfield Major Mavericks (Toronto Tournament, Caledon, Ontario)
Canterbury High School (Ottawa, ON, Ottawa Team 2)
Friday March 29
Holy Heart of Mary (Newfoundland Tournament, St. John’s, NFLD)
Beaconsfield High School (Quebec Tournament, Beaconsfield, QC)
Halifax West High School (Nova Scotia Tournament, Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Vincent Massey Secondary High School (Manitoba Tournament, Winnipeg, MB)
Chatham Kent Secondary School (Tri-City Tournament, Chatham-Kent, Ontario)
Saturday March 30
Top 5 Teams
Help cover those costs for the team in your region by becoming an official National Festival sponsor. You can read more at our Committing to the Moment sponsorship package.
Your sponsorship will be donated through the National Office and the recipient team will be notified that you supported their stay in Ottawa. Contact operations@improv.ca for more info.
If your team advances from their regional tournament, your registration fees will be waived. All teams are encouraged to register as a festival team ahead of time.
Don’t be a silly goose. Sign up and stay in the know!
