09/02/2026
This week, I had the chance to sit down with the hot mess that is Nathan Dimitroff, one half of the duo behind the founding of the Awesome Festival Campbellton.
A comedy festival that, according to Nathan, probably shouldn't have had legs. Apparently nobody told Campbellton.
Nathan and I discovered pretty quickly that we had a lot in common during our "brief" three-hour meeting.
We both grew up in northern New Brunswick, and both learned pretty early that comedy is a pretty effective way to connect with people. Now, I am no comedian. But I am convinced comedy is somewhere in a northerner's DNA. So naturally, we got along pretty well. And I am happy to report that I made the professional comedian laugh a couple of times along the way.
Nathan told me that his friend Marc Savoie planted the idea for the Awesome Festival in his head. Nathan didn't think much of it at the time.
Nathan's story with comedy started long before the Awesome Festival. Growing up, he was put in a French school mostly because it was closer to home than the English one. Before he could really communicate comfortably in French, he figured out another language entirely: making people laugh.
He fell in love with improv in high school and never really stopped. Then, in his early twenties, he got offered $250 to open for a travelling comedian. There was only one small problem. Nathan had never done stand-up before. But $250 to talk in front of a crowd sounded like pretty easy money. So he did it. And apparently, he did pretty damn well, because it became an annual gig for the next few years.
Comedy stayed with him after that, but mostly on the side. Nathan never fully jumped into the strange and uncertain world of doing comedy for a living. A big part of that was intentional. He wanted to make sure he could focus on being a father first. So for years, comedy remained something he loved without becoming the thing he built his entire life around.
Then Campbellton happened. A few years ago, Nathan had started touring a bit more and ended up in Campbellton for a gig with fellow comedian James Mullinger. They expected what you might expect from a comedy show in a small northern town.
A decent crowd. A fun night. Then everyone goes home.
Instead, Campbellton went nuts for it. The energy was different.
People showed up.
They were loud!
They were enthusiastic!
And both comedians walked away surprised by just how hungry this little corner of New Brunswick was for comedy.
That moment stuck with Nathan.
And suddenly, that little seed Marc had planted wasn't a seed anymore. It was a w**d. And Nathan couldn't get the d**n thing out of his head.
The questions gnawed at him "What if there was a real comedy festival here?"
Not Moncton. Not Halifax. But Campbellton?
That idea eventually became the Awesome Festival, which debuted in 2025. Now the festival is heading into its second year, and it is getting bigger.
The lineup includes some familiar names like local legend comedian and magician Don Bernard, Canadian comedy heavyweight James Mullinger, the completely unpredictable Nikki Payne, professional cynic Darren Frost, and the King of Awesome himself, songwriter of Sitzen Und Pi**en, Mike Paterson.
And somewhere along the way, something changed for Nathan too. After years of keeping comedy on the side, he has finally decided to go all in. Maybe it was the success of the first Awesome Festival. Maybe it was, 'technically' losing his full-time job. Either way, Nathan is becoming a full-time comedian.
And maybe the most surprising part is where he has chosen to build that next chapter.
Campbellton.
There is something I really like about that. For years, people from northern New Brunswick have been told, directly or indirectly, that if you want to make something happen, eventually you have to leave.
Nathan is doing the opposite. He is bringing people here. He is building something here. And he is optimistic that Campbellton could play a part in turning New Brunswick into a comedy industry heavyweight.
Which sounds a little ridiculous. Then again, so did starting a comedy festival in Campbellton.
Pssst....... Want some tickets?
Here is a way to get them for free: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcyboF3jr8g/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsi=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Visit their website for more details (while supplies last): https://awesomefestival.ca/
