Downtown Las Vegas rang in the New Year in style with the unveiling of a $32 million revamp of the Fremont Street Experience light and sound show.
“America Parties Downtown,” sponsored by iHeart Media Las Vegas, was the setting for the December 31 debut of the new VivaVision canopy, which stretches over a pedestrian mall for five blocks of Fremont Street and constitutes the largest single video screen in the world.
Cutting-edge technologies by Watchfire Signs and graphics from Contend have combined to bring 49.3 million LEDs and a 600,000-watt, concert-quality sound system to VivaVision, which now illuminates at more than 16 million pixels and 5,000 Nits, seven times brighter than the original and with four times the resolution, enabling it to be seen 24 hours a day for the first time in its 25-year history.
“The scale, the screen, the audio and the overall environment make this a world-class destination that deserves to be at the top of every list of must-see Vegas experiences,” said Bill Wadsworth of Contend.
“It is something you truly will have to see to believe,” said Derek Stevens, CEO of the D Las Vegas, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino and the upcoming Circa Resort & Casino.
“With Fremont Street Experience attracting more than 24 million visitors a year, we’re really looking forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on the entire community while breathing new life into Downtown Las Vegas,” said Patrick Hughes, president and CEO of the public-private partnership that manages the FSE and runs supporting attractions that include an 850-foot zipline known as Slotzilla and a 1,750-foot zoom line that transports riders underneath the canopy starting from a 12-story slot-machine-themed platform.
The canopy will offer an all-new library of eight immersive, multi-sensory shows. It is also capable for the first time of broadcasting live concerts and sporting events, and Hughes said it might be used in April to broadcast the NFL Draft, which is expected to take place at the new Caesars Forum Conference Center on the Las Vegas Strip.
The city of Las Vegas funded nearly $11 million of the revamp. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority contributed $9.5 million. The Downtown casinos, led by the seven properties directly adjoining the pedestrian mall, kicked in $12 million.
As Hughes put it, “Local leaders understood the need for the renovation. Sixty-seven percent of our visitors come Downtown because of the canopy.”
