Stoopfest: 56 bands, 26 comedians, 6 houses, 2 clubs, 1 Saturday

Stoopfest was all houses the first year, six of them. Bands played in backyards and living rooms.

Last year it added a club venue, the Avenue Cafe. This year, it's adding another, Mac's Bar, and the Allen Neighborhood Center to boot.

But the essentials of the DIY festival are the same: lots of bands and comedians, many of them locals, all performing Saturday on Lansing's east side.

"As with anything that has been going on in earnest for a while, we’re trying to make this better and better every year," said Cale Sauter, one of the organizers and the proprietor of Bemuda Mohawk Productions.

And so they've booked 56 bands, including Massachusetts indie rockers Speedy Ortiz and Miami rap and electronica artist Suzi Analogue alongside locals such as James Gardin, Krissy Booth, Rent Strike and Vincie D & the Sensations.

They are bringing in 26 comedians, among them Chicago comic Alex Ortiz (sample joke: "I think our whole sex ed system is pretty messed up. I think it’s a problem that the only thing I remember from sex ed is that my own reproductive system looks the logo for the Texas Longhorns").

They've added restaurant pop-ups from Green Dot Stables and Street Kitchen and a craft and vendor fair in the neighborhood center and workshops on consent and on administering the opioid overdose drug Narcan.

Tickets are $20 and are available at stoopfest18.brownpapertickets.com or The Record Lounge, The Avenue Cafe, Mac's Bar, Replay, Flat Black and Circular and Golden Harvest.

"I think a lot of people will look at the festival and see a $20 ticket price and think to themselves, 'I’m just going to watch my friends in an informal setting,'" Sauter said, "but the important thing to remember...is the money goes to artists."

Stoopfest runs from 12:15 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday at eight venues on Lansing's east side. The shows are all ages, except for the ones that take place after 9 p.m. at The Avenue Cafe, which are 21 and over. For information, go to www.stoopfest.com,