New Year's
Eve in Las Vegas!
Two Parties Bring in People to Ring in 2012
People pack under the canopy for bands, the countdown and to celebrate.
Las Vegas, New
Year's Eve – It's certainly no sin to spend New Year's Eve in Sin
City.
And for 2011-12 the city is really ringing in the New Year with a pair
of bashes that the city hopes matches what is happening in Times Square.
NYE at Vegas' America's Party on Freemont Street.
Called America's Party, it's an explosive combination of a fireworks
show from one end of the Strip to another and a series of cover bands on
two stages downtown.
New Year's Eve Las Vegas Downtown Fremont Street
The Fremont Street scene at America's Party, Las Vegas Fremont Street.
Long the backup player to the sizzling,
sexy sister down on the Strip, downtown is looking to rock in 2011-12.
There's a lineup of bands from 6:15-midnight, at which time the "canopy fireworks" start.
Las
Vegas New Year's Eve
Top Party Tips
• Spend three days. Do a casino crawl one night, NYE
the other and spend the first day of the New Year soaking up the
college games in a sports book or casino bar or lounge.
• Bring a jacket. Temperatures could be as low as the 30s
when the sun goes down.
• Generally speaking, the Strip attracts a younger crowd
(20s and 30s) while downtown is mainly mid-30s and older.
Hot Links: PubClub's City
& Bar Guide to Vegas.
• PubClub's Top NYE Party Places.
• Getting Laid in Vegas. A How-To Guide |
It's not quite the super show of past years when five bands jammed
on the stages, but rather a more manageable three, and at a cost of $20
instead of $80.
And the bands are rockin' and rolling. The event features cover bands; Fan Halen and tribute bands for U2, Bon Jovi, No Doubt & Gwen Stefani among them for 2011-12.
The setup is pretty casual, just walk in and out of the casinos and
shops while drinking cocktails out of football-shaped containers.
Cocktail stations are set up throughout the area and rarely does getting a drink require a wait. A light and sound show runs overhead
on the lighted "canopy" and confetti showers down at midnight.
The gates open at 6 p.m. (no one under 18 allowed). Some restaurants offer packages for entrance and
dinner.
Let the countdown begin: The canopy is Fremont's fireworks.
It takes place on Fremont Street at – or actually under it –
in what is known as the Fremont Street Experience. This is a light and
sound show on the canopy above the street. At midnight it changes to
electronic "fireworks."
Downtown is a big block party and people wander in and out of the casinos
and shops. The casinos here are much smaller and less glitzy than on the
Strip but this "old Vegas" style suits many.
 One cool aspect of Fremont Street is the Strip-type girls dancing in front of – and in – the Golden Gate casino.
The NYE countdown on Fremont Street is displayed on the canopy.
The football-sized "cups" put people in the party mood.
New Year's Eve on the Las Vegas Strip
The length of the Strip has fireworks, quite the spectacle
at midnight.
The pulse of Vegas pounds on New Year's
Eve. The length of the strip has fireworks, quite the spectacle at midnight.
On any given day – or night – of the year, the world-famous
Strip is buzzing with activity. On Dec. 31, it's busy all day and really
picks up after dark, especially in front of Caesars and the Flamingo,
mainly because of their central location.
PubClub has spent NYE on the Las Vegas Strip and has the scoop on the party scene, along with photos and video. Just click here for the article.
We also feel Vegas is the #1 place to spend New Year's Day. And in this article, we tell you why!
The casinos are buzzing and it's perfectly
legal to take drinks from bars and casinos onto the Strip (usually in
plastic "to go" cups). There are concerts and shows at the
various bars and clubs in the casinos. By 11, the Strip is already moving with a countdown to midnight followed by more music.
The concert-goers
then file out of the venue and into the casinos, lounges, bars and the
Strip, creating quite a festive atmosphere. There are lots of single
people at these concerts looking for midnight kisses, so this is always
a good call.
All of Vegas' clubs have NYE events, some with celebrity hosts. They are too numerous here to mention and those just planning on showing up and seeing what happens may be spending the countdown waiting in a line.
PubClub in Las Vegas, The New Year's Eve Experience
The PubClubbers
paused for a pose during the casino pub crawl.
It was Viva Las Vegas for PubClub.com
on one recent New Year's, as a large group of us gathered in the City
of Sin and Fun for a weekend celebration.
 Talk about ringing in the New Year in style – we went on a bar
crawl through several casinos on the Strip (dubbed the Casino Crawl),
made child's play out of the nightclub in the Hard Rock and transported
ourselves into the next year with several thousand revelers at the downtown
Fremont Street Experience. For three days, we rocked and rolled through
the streets, pubs and clubs of another of America's cities that never
sleeps.
Our
instigator was Stan Ruiz whose company – Spiderlink.com
– uses one of its massive server systems to host this web site.
Stan led us around with the ease and confidence of a cruise ship captain.
We, in turn, followed him like ducks at the Peabody Hotel.
With 30 people in the group, the trip had all the potential of either
Titanic or the Love Boat, but we neither sank nor swam in that direction.
Instead, we cruised through Vegas like pirates in the Caribbean, with
our bounty consisting mainly of beer.
The treasures we captured were priceless, timeless memories of causing
a stir while passing through the casinos, of kidnapping strangers along
the way until they staggered out of the group unable to keep pace, of
wondering how the heck all those NYE hours passed so quickly.
The adventure began on Dec. 29, at the Hard Rock Hotel's club, where
we had a VIP private booth (right by the oxygen machine, it must be
noted). Its Hard Rock location made it ideal for quick escapes to the
mingle-happy Circle Bar, a perfect pub-club combination without leaving
the building.
The Casino Crawl was mobile madness. We hit lounge bars in Luxor, Tropicana,
MGM and New York, New York. The latter two were the most lively, the
MGM featuring live entertainment from a pink-wigged, glittery female
band and New York, New York a raucous crowd that welcomed us with open
arms. NYNY's lounge also has great music and a dance floor and was so
lively we abandoned a plan to hit the Monte Carlo and tossed out our
anchor right there.
 The
next night was New Year's Eve and passed on the Strip and instead headed
to Fremont Street where, as noted above, one can freely roam with drinks the
size of footballs. Live bands provided
music. We met for a nice dinner at Hugo's Cellar,then spun off into
small groups to explore the scene and fill our footballs.
At 11:30, we gathered in front of the Golden Nugget and led the entire
street in warm-up cheers. At midnight, the place exploded in celebration,
confetti and kisses. We then retreated to the closest casino and spent
the rest of the night attempting (largely unsuccessfully) to pay for
our weekend at the gaming tables.
Most people left the next day, but three stayed an extra night.
For the entire party group, our ship for the New Year had come in.
 
Our photo journal
includes shots from the Casino Crawl, the Fremont Street Experience
and, with the Hard rock club. Captan' Stan is sporting shades, bottom
photo.
 PubClub.com
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