Dates set for LaughFest 2013

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - If laughter is the best medicine, more people will be getting better when the third LaughFest takes place next March.

Organizers of the 10-day event announced the next Gilda's Club fundraiser will begin March 7 and run through March 17, 2013.

“We had tremendous support for the festival this year, great turnout, great support from sponsors and the community," Gilda's Club president/CEO Leann Arkema said in a statement. "And it showed in the numbers. The festival exceeded its goals and the planning is well on its way for a third year of laughter.”

The group said proceeds from the second year were around $211,000. The two years of LaughFest combined brought in around $541,000, they said. All the money goes to support Gilda's Club, which offers free cancer, grief and emotional health programs for family members.

The nationwide organization is named for Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

More than 56,000 people attended the LaughFest events in 2012. Of those events, 217 were free and 106 were ticketed.

Details of the lineup and events for the 2013 programs will be announced later this fall.

For more information:

LaughFest
616.735.HAHA

Gilda's Club