New festivals have popped up all over the country in the last decade, turning fields and parks into open-air venues packed with revelers, from Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza to dozens of smaller, more niche celebrations. Life Is Beautiful throws a pretty amazing curveball at the big-festival game by staging in downtown Las Vegas, fencing off 18 square blocks and incorporating the businesses and buildings in the area—a historically underdeveloped part of town that’s been helped by the fest. Last year, Life Is Beautiful was named Best Festival by Pollstar, an concert-industry trade publication, for its third outing. This year, The A.V. Club is climbing on board as a media partner, because this thing looks pretty damn cool: In addition to tons of great music, there’s also food, art, comedy, and the “Ideas Series,” which in past iterations has featured speakers like Bill Nye and Pussy Riot. (Nye will be back this year, too.) Here’s a first look at the fest, which runs this year from September 22-24. Tickets for the fest go on sale this coming Thursday at 10 a.m., and more info can be had here.