Traditional film festivals are fine and good, but if you're only in a city for a few days, they can seem like a big time investment. A two-hour film here and a three-hour film there and pretty soon your day is gone. That's why Toronto's Giggleshorts International Comedy Short Film Festival is so great. Focusing only on short comedy films, you can breeze in and out of a variety of screenings, laugh until your sides are splitting, and then go sightseeing with the time you have left over. This year's festival (November 26-29, 2009) features more than 200 comedy short films, commercials, trailers, spoofs, mockumentaries, and "bizarre projects" that defy description by directors from Canada and around the world. Previous festivals have hosted such classics as "The Breakup Film" by award-winning filmmaker Bobby Miller, an oddball take on love and loss, and Donald D'Haene's "Viva Los Donald," about the newest member of a gambler's anonymous group. They're all hilarious, but even if you don't agree, there's not one film longer than 15 minutes, so you won't feel like you've wasted your precious vacation time. Click here for the schedule, or to watch selected shorts. Starwood has hotels throughout Toronto, including the Westin Prince, Toronto.

[image via giggleshorts.com]