America's Party facts for kids
America's Party is the big name for the official New Year's Eve celebrations held on the famous Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Las Vegas Events organize this huge event.
The party includes a concert called "America's Party Downtown" at the Fremont Street Experience, where you need a ticket to get in. The main highlight is a massive public fireworks show. This amazing display is put on by Fireworks by Grucci. The fireworks are usually launched from the tops of many different hotel buildings along the Strip.
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History of Las Vegas New Year's Eve
Early TV Shows and Big Celebrations
For New Year's Eve in 2002 and 2003, the TV channel Fox broadcasted its special show from Las Vegas. It was called America's Party: Live from Las Vegas. A famous host named Ryan Seacrest, known from American Idol, hosted these shows.
In 2005, Las Vegas celebrated its 100th birthday! The New Year's Eve party started with a B-1 bomber plane flying over the Strip. That year, fireworks lit up the sky from many hotel rooftops. These included the Excalibur, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, Bally's, Flamingo, Venetian, Treasure Island, Stardust, Circus-Circus, and Stratosphere.
America's Party in 2007 launched fireworks from 10 different rooftops. TV channels like CD USA and DirecTV showed the event live.
The 2008 celebration was called The Best is Yet to Come. Fireworks were launched from hotels like the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo Las Vegas, Venetian, Treasure Island (TI), Circus-Circus, and Stratosphere.
Changes to the Fireworks Show
For America's Party 2009, the usual fireworks launched from rooftops changed. Instead, the show was launched from the ground. This was because of new fire safety rules put in place after a fire at the Monte Carlo Hotel. The fireworks for the Takin' it to the Streets show came from places like the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Luxor Hotel, MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, Las Vegas Convention Center, and the Stratosphere Casino.
The fireworks returned to the rooftops for the 2010 party, which was named A Vegas Celebration. This time, they used the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood Resort, Caesar's Palace, Venetian Resort, Treasure Island, and the Stratosphere Tower.
The 2011 show was an 8-minute and 6-second display by Fireworks by Grucci. It was launched from the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesar's Palace, The Venetian, Treasure Island, and the Stratosphere Tower. Grucci also put on a separate fireworks show for the Fremont Street Experience.
In 2012, the show was launched from the Tropicana, MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian, and the Stratosphere. Fireworks by Grucci produced this show too.
Recent Events
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada, both the big fireworks show and the America's Party Downtown events were canceled for New Year's Eve 2021. However, a local TV station, KLAS-TV, still broadcasted a New Year's Eve special. This special was mostly shown from the Circa Resort & Casino. It also covered a fireworks show that was still held by the Plaza.