Revelers heading to the Strip this New Year’s Eve will have even more opportunity to watch fireworks than last year. Las Vegas tourism officials have added an eighth pyrotechnics display to the lineup.
The new show will erupt from the roof of the Tropicana Las Vegas and join others planned at the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, Venetian and Stratosphere. All will take place concurrently at midnight.
The Tropicana display adds almost 15,000 explosions to the event, bringing the total to more than 56,000. Fireworks by Grucci will oversee the shows, as the pyrotechnics company has for the past 13 years.
Organizers said they chose the Tropicana as the newest location because the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard was one of the Strip’s busiest.
“That’s the great thing about Las Vegas. We always reinvent ourselves to get better. This is going to be more spectacular than ever before,” said former Mayor Oscar Goodman, the city’s de facto ambassador.
Fireworks company Vice President Felix Grucci said the 8 minute, 36 second show would include several new fireworks patterns and color configurations.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority officials estimate the display will attract more than 315,000 tourists to the city. If that number holds true, about 39 million people will have visited Las Vegas this year, rivaling 2007 for the record.
Just over the New Year’s holiday, tourists are expected to spend $192 million on food, hotel rooms and souvenirs. That figure doesn’t include money many will spend at the gaming tables and slot machines.
“Our little community is very health,” Mayor Carolyn Goodman said.
This year’s fireworks show will have a dance theme. Music will range from “the traditional to space age,” Grucci said, and remain fast paced to allow almost 70 engineers to set off fireworks quickly.
Tourism officials expect to spend about $500,000 to produce the show.
Downtown, another party will take place. Thirteen bands are slated to perform under the Fremont Street canopy, and a fireworks display is scheduled for midnight.
“TributePalooza” will feature music from Steel Panther and Rock Sugar as well as 10 cover bands playing homage to AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, U2, No Doubt, Van Halen and other artists. Tickets cost $30 and are restricted to people 21 or older.