JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — It's a big weekend in southwest New York, with visitors coming in by the thousands all in search of one thing - laughter.
Jamestown hosts 2023 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival from August 2-6. The festival will feature the museum and several live comedy events throughout the weekend.
“This is a town you can always come back to,” said one of the people who traveled to Jamestown for the festivities, Denise Schwab “There’s always something new and something funny to laugh at.”
Denise and her daughter Madeline drove more than three hours from State College, Pennsylvania just for this year's Lucy Fest.
Madeline shared that she became a Lucille Ball fan years ago and has made this trip with her family to Lucy’s hometown a few times.
“It came from when I first started watching Golden Girls. I found out about Lucile Ball from that, and I fell in love with her very quickly.”
Madeline is not alone in that love for Ball and her work. For many comedy lovers, Jamestown is now a stop on their bucket lists.
“There are more than 40 states represented in ticket buyer zip codes this weekend alone,” said National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson.
Gunderson is extremely proud of the progress the comedy center has made in making Jamestown a tourist attraction.
“We were at a phase where the top comedic talent in the country wasn’t used to performing here. Now, we’re getting calls… asking ‘Can my artist come to the National Comedy Center?” They want to come to the museum, be part of it, and perform in Lucy’s hometown.”
The attraction even winning national recognition for being a “Top 25 Family Weekend Getaways in the Country” by U.S. News & World Report and “Best New Museum” from USA Today.
With this growing tourist attraction in their own backyard, local businesses have seen the success rub off on their own endeavors too.
“This is always our busiest week of the entire year,” said Jeff James, Owner, Labyrinth Press Company restaurant. “Everything builds up to this week.”
“We definitely have more foot traffic out on the street,” said Shannon Olson, Co-Manager, Dot’s Gift Boutique. “That means a lot of extra people are coming in, sometimes looking for Jamestown items.”
Both said the festival has had a large effect on people from out-of-state visiting their businesses.
“Sometimes we get some famous people stopping in here from time to time,” James said. “I know Nick Offerman hid out in the corner of my bar one time, so that was pretty cool.”
“Quite a few people come in and mention that they’re from out of town,” Olson said. “They make this their big summer journey.”
The festival will take place both inside the museum and outside on Second Street. Plenty of other businesses have changed their hours to stay open later during the peak times.
