Roughly 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian edition of the Live 8 concert were snatched up within about 20 minutes of being made available online Thursday morning, organizers said.

"It's great to see such a strong show of support,'' concert producer Michael Cohl said in a statement.

Organizers said fans from across North America -- from as far away as Mexico and California -- logged on to the Ticketmaster website to try to secure tickets to the event.

The concerts, taking place in eight major venues around the world, are orchestrated to put pressure on the G-8 nations' leaders to come up with more aid for Africa.

"Canadian voices will be heard strong and clear by world leaders at the G8 Summit,'' said Cohl.

The city of Barrie, Ont., north of Toronto, will be hosting the Canadian show on July 2 at the 35,000-capacity Park Place venue.

Tickets were free but fans were required to answer a skill-testing question on Ticketmaster's website before they could receive their limit of two-per-person.

The question they had to answer:

According to Live 8 and Make Poverty History, what can the G8 leaders do to help make poverty history?

1. Increase foreign aid
2. Cancel the debt of poor countries
3. Make trade rules fair for the poor
4. All of the above

Once music fans have registered for passes, they can then pick up the tickets at select distribution sites, beginning Saturday, June 25; all tickets must be picked up by Thursday, June 30.

According to Ticketmaster, children under the age of two do not require a ticket.

For those who can't make it to the show, the entire Canadian show will be broadcast live on CTV.

Highlights from the concerts around the world will also be part of the unprecedented 12-hour broadcast scheduled to end in a prime time special of the day's highlights.

Canuck comedians Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green will be hosting an all-star slate of fan-favourites, including: The Tragically Hip and Bryan Adams, The Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Cochrane, Gordon Lightfoot, and Great Big Sea.