Las Vegas Weekly

November 17, 2008 · 2:39 PM

It’s official: No fireworks from hotel rooftops this New Year’s Eve

By Robin Leach

Fireworks burst above Planet Hollywood.

Photo: Scott Doctor

It’s now official -- and exactly as our Luxe Life blog reported exclusively many weeks ago -- that no hotel rooftops will be used for this New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations.

The Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, or LVCVA, have confirmed our story that only ground locations will be used as firing points for the “America’s Party” fireworks extravaganza on Dec. 31.

Fire Department officials put the rooftop ban into effect following the fire earlier this year at the top of the Monte Carlo. They have agreed to permit fireworks to be lit atop the concrete lower parking garage roofs.

The fireworks show will now bring the pyrotechnics closer to the revelers on the Las Vegas Strip, at the same time introducing new design elements. The tentative firing locations this year include (from the south end of the Strip heading north): Mandalay Bay, convention center lot (at Russell and Las Vegas Boulevard); Luxor, parking lot (across Las Vegas Boulevard at Mandalay Bay Road); MGM Grand, parking garage; Paris, parking garage; Caesars Palace, parking garage; Treasure Island/Mirage valet parking garage; Las Vegas Convention Center, gold parking lot; Stratosphere, parking garage; and Fremont Street Experience, under the canopy.

In previous years, when the show was fired off hotel rooftops, the fireworks could be seen throughout the valley. Due to the change in firing locations, the best viewing areas will now be ground level on the Las Vegas Strip. Residents also are encouraged to take the firing locations into consideration for ideal viewing.

“America’s Party is a signature event for Las Vegas,” Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson said. “Our goal each year is to develop a show that is worthy of this great city, and this year we will bring it closer to the revelers on the Las Vegas Strip.”

Fireworks by Grucci of New York, world-renowned for its innovative, state-of-the-art displays, has been contracted to coordinate the pyrotechnic power. The company recently coordinated the fireworks display at the Beijing Olympic Games and has executed numerous presidential inaugurations and citywide celebrations.

“This will be the fifth time that we have been commissioned by Las Vegas Events to coordinate ‘America’s Party,’ ” said Donna Grucci Butler, president of Fireworks by Grucci. “This show is billed as America’s largest New Year’s Eve party, and it will be coordinated and designed in true Las Vegas style.”

Thematic elements and the musical soundtrack are in the final stages of development and will be officially announced at a press conference Dec. 16 at Fashion Show Mall.

“America’s Party” is the official moniker coined by the LVCVA and Las Vegas Events to signify the annual citywide celebration on Dec. 31. This year’s festivities include both the themed fireworks extravaganza on the Las Vegas Strip, as well as the live concerts and fireworks under the canopy at the Fremont Street Experience.

Themed as “TributePalooza,” the world’s best tribute bands will be performing 14 hours of live music from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. on both the 1st Street and 3rd Street stages on Fremont Street Experience. Tribute bands will be performing songs by Billy Joel, The Eagles, David Bowie, KISS, The Rolling Stones, U2, Queen and Aerosmith.

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