30 things to know about Fremont Street Experience as it turns 30

Fremont Street is looking up. Well, the people definitely are. Every night, some of the 22 million annual tourists to downtown look up at Viva Vision, the now-30-year-old canopy that encompasses the five-block-long Fremont Street Experience.

When the Fremont Street Experience was being built, casino executives saw its future as a cure for the “malaise” and blight that had overtaken the area by the late 1980s. A month before the public-private outdoor mall extravaganza opened for business, Binion’s Horseshoe (now Binion’s) and Fitzgeralds (now the D Las Vegas) planned on new hotel towers and Boyd Gaming looked at reopening the nearby Bob Snow’s Main Street Station (now without Snow’s name), according to past reports by the Review-Journal.

In October 1995, hotel occupancy in long-standing properties on Fremont Street wasn’t the problem: Las Vegas Club, Golden Nugget, Horseshoe, Fitzgeralds, as well as the California and Fremont hotels, turned a small profit. The problem was keeping guests from leaving downtown to gamble on the Strip.

“It’s going to stop the bleeding,” said Chuck Ruthe, then-president of a Boyd Gaming subsidiary. And it did just that.

Thirty years after its Dec. 14, 1995, inauguration, what’s around the canopy encompassing the Fremont Street Experience may have changed quite a bit, but it stands on its own as a must-see destination, full of light shows via Viva Vision, nightly live music, a zip line, street performers and an all-night, nonstop energy.

To mark 30 years, here are 30 things to know about the Fremont Street Experience.

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5 things to know about its history

Like we said, times were tough for downtown casinos in 1992.

Steve Wynn had ushered in a new era on the Strip with the opening of The Mirage at the end of 1989. The MGM Grand, Luxor and Wynn’s Treasure Island were due to open in 1993. According to projections, those mammoth buildings and their attractions would put 15,000 to 20,000 downtown jobs at risk.

The Downtown Progress Association hired three California firms, at a cost of $30,000 each, to develop ideas to revitalize Fremont Street. Here’s what we could have ended up with instead of the Viva Vision canopy:

1. Las Venice: Wynn may have created the problem in the first place, but as the owner of the Golden Nugget, he also kicked off the plans to solve it. In early 1991, he proposed twin canals — 3 feet deep, 22 feet wide and 1,800 feet long — that would run down Fremont and on First and Third streets between Fremont and Stewart Avenue. As part of the experience, dubbed “Las Venice,” gondoliers would have ferried guests around the downtown area. Las Vegas would have to wait eight years for gondolas to arrive with The Venetian.

2. “Wizard of Odds”: Not much is known about the “Wizard of Odds” plan, hatched by one of the California firms. But the $30,000 idea was to build a “Wizard of Oz”-style attraction, even though the MGM Grand’s “Wizard of Oz” theming had been announced the previous year.

3. Getting medieval: Another of the outsiders’ ideas was a medieval theme, complete with a castle. Excalibur had opened in 1990.

4. Final frontier: The final idea shared by those firms was to put a nearly full-scale replica of the USS Enterprise from “Star Trek” on the corner of Fremont and Las Vegas Boulevard — even though no one involved in the plan seems to have contacted Paramount about acquiring the rights to do that. The fully licensed “Star Trek: The Experience” opened in 1998 at what was then known as the Las Vegas Hilton.

5. Floating a plan: Architect Jon Jerde’s first attempt at what he called the Fremont Street Experience centered around a meshlike awning that would cover the area — and support massive floats for an elevated experience much like Disneyland’s light parades. The similar “Masquerade Show in the Sky” opened at the Rio in 1997.

CL

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5 things you didn’t know about the canopy

1. A lot of nits: It measures 1,367 feet long — that’s five football fields — and 90 feet wide, lit by 49 million LED lights with 16 million pixels for crisp, vibrant imagery and a 600,000-watt sound system. It also has 5,000 nits, which refers to a screen’s brightness. (5,000 is a lot.)

2. An alternate plan: The canopy we see today came from the mind of architect Mary Kozlowski, a local who loved Fremont Street. She proposed the canopy after pointing out flaws in another plan.

3. Going 24/7: The original canopy cost $75 million, and most recently, it was renovated for $32 million in 2019. That’s also when it became a 24-hour display.

4. Screen time: For many years, the canopy was the world’s largest single video screen. In 2020, Resorts World outdid it by about 3,000 square meters. Then Sphere surpassed that by about 40,000 square meters in 2023.

5. Now showing: The current lineup for programming includes shows at the top of the hour, starting at 6 p.m. and running through 2 a.m. nightly, dedicated regularly to significant acts such as Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, The Chainsmokers, Tiesto and more.

KD

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5 must-see sights

1. Vegas Vic sign: Did you know the city’s most iconic cowboy, the 4o-foot, neon Vegas Vic sign, once spoke, urging people — for a brief time in the 1960s — to get free chest X-rays to check for tuberculosis? Well, you do now.

Six decades later, Vegas Vic remains a towering presence beneath the Fremont Street Experience canopy, a glowing totem of Vegas’ past informing the present.

2. Golden Gate: If the Fremont Street Experience family tree has grown more and more branches over the years, its trunk remains the Golden Gate. It’s the city’s oldest casino, anchoring the district ever since its 1906 inception. Its history— and by extension, that of Fremont Street itself — is displayed throughout the venerable property, from slot machines dating back to the 1940s to an exhibit of artifacts including a vintage phone (this was the home of the city’s first) and ledger books over 100 years old.

Grab a gin-based “1906 Spritz” at the Prohibition Bar and take a trip back in time here.

3. The Tank pool: After swimming with the sharks — metaphorically speaking — at the poker table, do so for real at The Tank pool at the Golden Nugget, where that nightmare fish is among the hundreds of animals prowling a 200,000-gallon aquarium. Oh, and did we mention that a three-story water slide shoots right through it all?

This is about as close as you can get to said sea carnivore without ending up in its stomach.

4. Neonopolis: Because a trip to the Fremont Street Experience isn’t complete without hurling an ax or two after slamming a brew or two, racing go-karts, getting tattooed and, of course, reciting your nuptials, Neonopolis is the rare shopping/entertainment center to accomplish all of the above in one spot.

The three-story complex encompasses one of the city’s best indie dance clubs (Substance), a vintage toy collector’s paradise (Toy Shack), a nightclub/bowling alley (The Nerd) and a whole lot more — including the only place in the area to feast on alligator tails and frog legs (the recently opened Hush Puppy).

5. Slotzilla Zipline: Because sometimes Fremont Street is best experienced high above the throngs of revelers and the seemingly endless supply of costumed superheroes, there’s the Slotzilla Zipline. After scaling a 12-story, slot machine-shaped launching platform, SlotZilla riders soar face-down across a 1,700-foot cable, reaching speeds of 35 mph.

JB

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5 places to eat

1. American Coney Island: This Vegas outpost of the Detroit original founded in 1917 looks onto the promenade from beneath the outside escalator to the D Las Vegas. The red, white and blue interior provides a backdrop for a signature Coney Dog with chili, mustard and onions. These toppings are also deployed for a Loose Burger (ground beef in a hot dog bun) and an American Special (Coney Dog with ground beef added to the mix). The restaurant is open 24/7.

2. Binion’s Café: The origins of Binion’s casino stretch back almost 75 years — that’s when Vegas gaming pioneer Benny Binion bought the Fremont Street property where the casino now sits. The café serves American coffee shop and diner standards. A Binion’s Hangover Burger features a garlic-seasoned patty topped with a fried egg, bacon, American cheese and all the fixings on a brioche bun. House coleslaw and house potato salad perform backup duty.

3. Hugo’s Cellar: Hugo’s in the Four Queens regularly receives plaudits for being one of the best steakhouses in Las Vegas. The Hot Rock Specialty headlines the menu, with jumbo shrimp, marinated swordfish, chicken breast and beef tenderloin medallions cooked tableside on a sizzling slab of granite. Chops might be topped with hot blue cheese or mushroom ragoût, with white asparagus tips and king crab Oscar style or pancetta and lump crab Atlantis style.

4. Project BBQ: Project BBQ is the only permanent food truck at the Fremont Street Experience, lying outside Circa and across from the Golden Gate. The truck recently unveiled an upgraded patio with lively signage, wall finishes, ordering kiosks, a retractable canopy, and heaters and misters. Among the signature items: smoked barbecue ribs backed by rib tip baked beans; smoked sausage, pineapple and pepper kabobs brushed with balsamic hot honey glaze; and mac and cheese convening creamy cheesy elbow pasta and a heap of diced caramelized pork belly.

5. Tacos & Miches: Beneath the canopy, tacos are touted three ways on the exterior of this modest storefront: on the main sign, on a glowing “Tacos” sign pointing inside and on the “Street Style Tacos” banner above the entrance. Order and pick up at the counter, then proceed to the long, narrow dining room (or do takeout). Diners give this taqueria kudos for its fish, pollo and adobada tacos built with double-stacked corn tortillas; its ramen birra; and its quesadillas, variously filled.

JLW

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5 times the screen hit the screen

1. “Anora”: After getting married at the Little White Wedding Chapel, sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) and Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, celebrate under the fireworks on the canopy in “Anora.” In March, an image from that scene was shown over and over as Madison won an Oscar and writer-director Sean Baker became the first person to win four Academy Awards for the same movie.

2. “CSI”: The original series and its sequel, “CSI: Vegas,” spent plenty of time filming on Fremont Street over the years. That’s where Jason Tracey, creator of the latter, preferred to shoot in Las Vegas. “You’ve got a lot of different casinos and lights and action in real close proximity to each other,” he told the Review-Journal. The resorts on the Strip are so massive, he added, “If you had a foot chase, you’d be in front of the Bellagio for an hour and a half.”

3. Katy Perry: The pop star was flying high — not Blue Origin high, but metaphorically on the heels of her breakthrough album — in 2009 when she filmed the video for “Waking Up in Vegas.” She and actor Joel David Moore made out in one of those wind machine money grab booths and celebrated with stacks of cash, showgirls, a fire breather and an elephant at the Fremont Street Experience.

4. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”: Jim Carrey could’ve been charged with assault for what he did to Criss Angel in this under-seen 2013 comedy. Steve Gray, Carrey’s over-accessorized street magician, heads to Fremont Street, where Angel often filmed his “Mindfreak” series, to mutilate himself for his TV magic show.

5. The Weeknd: Some of the titular bulbs in the singer’s cinematic “Blinding Lights” video could be found on Fremont Street. The canopy got more screen time in the video for “Heartless.” Both singles came from his 2020 album, “After Hours.”

CL

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5 can’t-forget concerts

1. The Offspring, Feb. 10, 2024: “You guys are here for Taylor Swift, aren’t ya?”

So wondered The Offspring guitarist Noodles, whose band drew a massive throng of fans to their free concert at the Fremont Street Experience on Super Bowl eve 2024, when the Big Game came to Vegas for the first time with the Kansas Chiefs taking on the San Francisco 49ers.

It was a huge event, obviously, and The Offspring underscored as much, one of punk’s top-selling bands of all time, adding still more star power to the high-watt weekend. It was really cold out late on the winter night in question, but The Offspring did their best to warm the blood with tunes delivered fast enough to have been fired from a cannon, playing one hit after the next — including a sweet medley of covers ranging from the expected (The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop”) to the not-so-much (Savatage’s “Hall of the Mountain King”) — concluding with their smash single “Self Esteem.”

2. Jelly Roll, Oct. 14, 2022: Jelly Roll was indeed on a roll — at long last — in the fall of 2022 when he hit the Fremont Street Experience, having notched a pair of breakout hits in “Son of a Sinner” and “Need a Favor” nearly 20 years into his music career. This night turned out to be an especially sentimental one for the burgeoning country-rap star: From the stage, he recalled meeting his future wife, Vegas native Bunnie DeFord, for the first time at the now-shuttered Las Vegas Country Saloon right up the street in 2015.

“I’ll never forget that night on Fremont street that I met you standing by the bar at what was then called the “LVCS,” Mr. Roll posted on his socials after the show. “7 years later to stand on that same street right after we played one of the biggest shows they’ve had on Fremont Street is a feeling I’ll never forget.”

Since then, things have only gotten bigger for the former big man, who’s dropped over 200 pounds of late: last time he was in town, he played a sold-out Allegiant Stadium with Post Malone in April.

3. Steve Aoki, June 13, 2019: The cake-hurling superstar DJ-producer made one of the most memorable entrances by a Fremont Street Experience performer. Soaring above the crowd on the Slotzilla Zipline, Aoki touched down on the Main Street Stage prior to the world premiere of his Viva Vision light and sound show in June 2019, which offered an early look at the $32 million in renovations to the Fremont Street canopy.

Later, Aoki delivered a raucous set in front of a borderline delirious crowd who seemed almost as hyped as Aoki himself when he was flying high above them.

4. ACM Weekend, March 30-31, 2012: For years, it was the pre-party that eclipsed the actual party. Back when the ACM Awards were held in Vegas, the annual country music gala was prefaced for years by ACM Weekend at the Fremont Street Experience, where a who’s who of Nashville’s biggest names like Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band and more played free concerts.

2012 was an especially notable year, with Eric Church and Luke Bryan headlining back-to-back nights as both were becoming bona fide superstars.

5. Chris Cornell, April 6, 2007: Before Formula One came to lay rubber on the Strip, the Champ Car World Series’ Vegas Grand Prix did the same downtown. The event’s debut was marked by a big free concert at the Fremont Street Experience, highlighted by a solo performance from late, great Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. His command performance included Soundgarden staples (“Spoonman,” “Black Hole Sun”), Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” and, for good measure, a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

JB

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Upcoming events

Dec. 14: 30th anniversary

Themed, “An Iconic Vegas Original,” the event starts at 4 p.m., kicking off with a Menorah lighting at sundown. The night will feature speakers, including elected officials and business owners who brought the canopy to life, as well as the debut of new Viva Vision shows. The night ends with a Christmas tree lighting led by Mayor Shelley Berkley, launching the debut of the Neon Nights Holiday Lights holiday village.

Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve 2026 — Countdown Under the Canopy

Revelers 21 and older are invited to toast to the new year, along with performances from Robin Thicke, CeeLo Green, Common Kings, Chingy, Pertinence and Sammy Johnson. Tickets are $60 for the whole night, starting at 7.