BATON ROUGE - Ticket sales are hot at the Raising Cane's River Center. Fans stood in line Friday afternoon, waiting to get tickets to this weekend's first-ever Summer Fest.

"Tickets are selling well for all events, and we're excited to have live entertainment back in downtown Baton Rouge," said Les Crooks, regional director of the River Center.

The event will kick off with the "So You Got Jokes" comedy show Saturday and will end with a hip hop and R&B performance Sunday. It's the first full-capacity event since the pandemic began, and the biggest indoor event since March 2020.

"There was nothing in terms of live entertainment in 2020. March 8 or 9 was our last shows with live entertainment. We're excited to welcome touring artists and their fans back to the Raising Cane's River Center," Crooks said. 

He says there are no COVID restrictions in place. That means there is no mask mandate or social distancing required.

"The response has been phenomenal, and shows people are ready to get back to some sense of normalcy," said Adrian Hammond, with Affiliate Nation.

Organizers say more than 3,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday's event alone.

"Actually the capacity for the comedy show was only 2,500. This morning we were able to release another 800 tickets," Hammond said.

The River Center is booked for 13 events so far. Crooks says that number is expected to double before the end of the year.