Tens of thousands of people rang in the New Year across Las Vegas, watching fireworks launch from the top of some of the city鈥檚 iconic casino-resorts, attending superstar performances at various venues and participating in a celebratory midnight toast.
Officials estimated more than 300,000 people gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for a celebration anchored by an 8-minute firework show, while thousands more convened in the area鈥檚 downtown entertainment district to enjoy live music. And for those who decided to head into 2019 indoors, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani and other stars helped them do so in proper form at different venues along the world-famous corridor.
鈥淣o other city in the world does it like Las Vegas, and that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 called America鈥檚 Party,鈥� Lawrence Weekly, chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said during a news conference announcing details of the celebrations. 鈥淟isten, some folks, and I know some of you guys, are going to look at me and say 鈥淩eally, Weekly, the shame? But some folks stand outside in frigid cold just to watch a ball drop.鈥� But where else in the world do you have a great concert all up and down and iconic boulevard?鈥�
New Year鈥檚 Eve is worth an estimated $403.1 million to the city, according to the convention and visitors authority. The agency responsible for promoting Las Vegas expected 318,000 people to travel to the city for the holiday and projected that 97 per cent of the city鈥檚 more than 147,000 hotel rooms would be booked.
Federal agents and local police were out in force, with teams of police stationed inside most major casinos on the Strip, plainclothes officers in the crowd and snipers keeping an eye on things from rooftops. Officials also banned backpacks, ice chests, strollers and glass items from the street celebrations as a safety measure.
The theme for this year鈥檚 firework show was 鈥淰egas Nights.鈥� Organizers tried to emulate the sense of excitement of an evening in Las Vegas with fireworks in rich purple, green, gold and cherry red hues.
The 80,000 pyrotechnic firings were choreographed to a custom soundtrack that includes Frank Sinatra鈥檚 鈥淟uck be a Lady,鈥� Lionel Ritchie鈥檚 鈥淎ll Night Long,鈥� Celine Dion鈥檚 鈥淚 Drove All Night鈥� and Gaga鈥檚 鈥淢arry The Night.鈥� The show was scheduled to begin 10 seconds before midnight at the Stratosphere casino-resort. Fireworks then launched from the Venetian, Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Aria and MGM Grand casino-resorts.
Inside, casino operators pulled out all the stops for the celebration. Gaga was at Park Theater at Park MGM casino-resort, Dion at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Stefani performed at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood and Maroon 5 took the stage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
At the ticketed, lower-key celebration in downtown Las Vegas, 12 bands played in four different stages set up along the Fremont Street entertainment district. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman led a celebratory midnight toast.
(Canadian Press)
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