Laughter in Bloom: Let's Fest Comedy Festival Heads to Indianapolis

The fifth annual Let's Fest Comedy Festival is taking over Fountain Square in Indianapolis from Thursday to Sunday. The festival showcases stand-up, sketch, and improv comedy at multiple venues throughout the area.

Co-founder Jared Busch explains that the idea for the festival came from a desire to expand Indianapolis' entertainment scene beyond its traditional reputation as a sports and music city.

“Indianapolis has a great existing comedy community,” Busch said. “We wanted to bring comics that we like to see, that don’t always make it to the Midwest. And we’ve been doing that for about 10 years. This is our fifth comedy festival.”

Busch emphasizes that the festival is designed to highlight both national acts and local talent while creating an intimate experience that can't be replicated online.

“You can’t really appreciate the quality of a comic sometimes if you’re not just right there in front of them and in person,” Busch said. “That’s when you actually get to see the magic.”

Organizers believe that comedy plays a bigger role during challenging times, serving as a social binder and relief.

“I think comedy is very important in that way that it’s a sort of social binder and a social relief,” Busch said. “We can all get together and just laugh at how absurd life really is.”

Individual tickets are available for each show, or fans can purchase a weekend pass for $130. Busch emphasizes the importance of affordability when planning the event.

“We want to make it very approachable and affordable so that people of all income can do their best to come and be part of something that is a community effort,” he said.