LaughFest raises Grand Rapids' profile | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - This small city known for building furniture is also now building big buzz in the creative arts community.

LaughFest, the ten day community-wide comedy celebration that kicks off tonight, takes many cues from the wildly-successful ArtPrize, which just finished it's second year. Both are the kind of events that can put a community like Grand Rapids on the national map.

Matt Lauria is a Grand Rapids comedian participating in LaughFest. He says, "When Jay Leno gets to say the town you're performing in...you're pretty proud to be from here."

Detroit software salesman Doug Young has been bringing colleagues from across the world to Grand Rapids for the last six years. "Everybody comes in and says 'wow I had no idea that this was a little metropolis like it is and how nice it is' " he said Wednesday.