56,000 visit Gilda's LaughFest

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The numbers are in for the second annual Gilda's LaughFest.

The nation's only community-wide festival of laughter began March 8 and with 607 people wearing chicken beaks to set a new Guinness world record. It ended Sunday.

The event raised money for Gilda's Club Grand Rapids -- a free cancer and grief support community of children, adults, families and friends.

The breakdown --

• Number of visitors to all of the events -- 56,294
• Number of events -- 323
• Number of free shows -- 217
• Number of ticketed shows -- 106
• Number of festival stages -- 62 in three cities (Grand Rapids, Holland and Lowell)
• Number of headliners and artists -- 201
• Number of states visitors came from -- 25 (and even Canada)
• Number of visitors to ticketed shows -- 40,524
• Number of visitors to free shows -- 15,770
• Number of sold-out shows (ticketed and free) -- 90 (28% of total number of shows)
• Number of volunteers -- 1,468
• T-shirts in the public domain -- 4,239
• LaughFest buttons distributed -- 11,350
• Number of banners, signs, flyers, window clings, smiles and posters distributed -- 241,600

Last year 55,376 people visited the festival which showcased 228 events and 642 artists at 49 venues.

"We are excited about the growth we saw during the second year of LaughFest," Leann Arkema, president and CEO of Gilda's Club Grand Rapids said in a news release. "Preliminarily we are pleased with the outcomes from this year's event. What makes LaughFest successful are 1,468 volunteers, our 282 sponsors, participating businesses and organizations, and all of the community members who stepped up to buy tickets, attend the free shows or warmly greet and help a guest from out of town."