(MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo.) — Beginning on Friday, May 19, and running through Sunday, May 21, Manitou Springs will host the inaugural Manitou Comedy Festival.

The event features headliners including; The Grawlix, Mary Mack, and AJ Finney along with comedians from Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, and across Colorado.

Manitou Comedy said its vision is to highlight new, more diverse styles of comedy and increase opportunities for local performers to feel welcomed as they develop their craft.

The three-day event will feature 15 different shows at Lulu’s Downstairs, The Armadillo Ranch, Persephone Grae’s, and The Buffalo Lodge, with the support of the Manitou Arts, Culture, and Heritage board, Manitou Made, and the broader community. 

Tickets to the festival can be purchased on Manitou Comedy Festival‘s website.

“I think it’s important to elevate comedy a little bit and I think it’s important to offer opportunities to everybody to perform and I notice that there aren’t a lot of live performance things, especially in the way of comedy happening on the west side of town here and I think that Manitou is a community that is really ready to support that sort of thing and I want to help give it to them,” said Nina Davis, Founder and Co-Producer of the Manitou Comedy Festival.