Cirque du Soleil a partner
One of the world’s largest music festivals will touch down in Las Vegas in May 2015. Rock in Rio is a partnership that includes MGM Resorts International, Cirque du Soleil, billionaire grocery store owner Ron, and Roberto Medina, who founded the concerts in the mid-1980s.
MGM will devote 33 acres near Circus Circus to a permanent City of Rock open-air concert venue. The concerts, which are held over four days every two years, could host up to 80,000 people per day, with live music on five different stages.
“It will serve as a major tourism driver for Las Vegas,” said Bill Hornbuckle, president of MGM Resorts International. He said the festival will attract “well over 300,000 people to our city.”
“The entertainment scene has changed dramatically in recent years, as has the way consumers want to experience their entertainment,” Hornbuckle said. “With our innovative new partners at Rock in Rio and the creative geniuses at Cirque du Soleil, we will introduce Las Vegas to an unprecedented music festival, in a setting that will never be replicated.”
Rock in Rio began in 1985. Since then, an estimated 1 billion fans have watched more than 1,120 performances on festival stages.
“Our first Rock in Rio USA will be unlike any festival anyone has ever experienced on the biggest stage in the world in the heart of Las Vegas,” Medina told the Sun. “We are thrilled to welcome these entertainment giants as part of our USA family. It is a testament to our 30-year history and outstanding reputation.”
Hornbuckle said MGM will spend $20 million to develop the venue. “It will be stripped down when Rock in Rio isn’t utilizing it,” he said. “We could do soccer, boxing matches. We can easily have other major events there like a country music festival, a mega-food festival.” Rock in Rio, MGM Resorts, and Cirque du Soleil will offer hospitality packages for concert patrons.
