Outdoor comedy festival cancelled due to flooding at Harris Park

The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival set to take over Harris Park in London, Ont., this weekend has been cancelled due to recent flooding.

The festival, featuring comedy stars Bill Burr, Tom Segura, Nate Bargatze and Gerry Dee, among others,was set to happen from July 19 to 21.

"It is with deep regret that we announce the cancellation of this weekend's Great Outdoors Comedy Festival in London," said festival organizers in a statement sent Tuesday afternoon.

"Our team has worked tirelessly with the city to try and find a way for the show to go on, but given the current conditions of the grounds, we are unable to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone involved."

Tickets purchased through Tixrwill berefunded automatically but organizers saidit may take up to six weeks to process.

Environment Canada measured 59.3 mm of rainfall in the region on Monday, breaking the previous record of 45.2 mm set for that day in 1923. Heavy rains also fell Tuesday morning.

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has been monitoring the water levels closely and issued a warning for people and their pets to stay clear of watercourses.

"We were still seeing the higher waters from last week when Hurricane Berylcame through,so theground was saturated, water levels were already a little high and then we got lots of rain," saidEleanor Heagy, the communications and marketing co-ordinator for the UTRCA.

"They're still working to do clean up from Rock the Park, and because the ground is so saturated and with the uncertainties of the rest of the weather this week, they've had to cancel the comedy festival, which is really unfortunate."

Environment Canada is forecasting a 40 per cent chance of showers and risk of thunderstorms Tuesday night, followed by a 30 per cent chance of showers on Wednesday. Clear skies are expected from Thursday to Saturday.