Las Vegas Sun - New Year's Eve 2008

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Melissa and Marcus Montanye from Chicago watch fireworks while ringing in the new year at the Venetian.

GOODBYE, 2008. HELLO, 2009.

Attractions lure crowds to Las Vegas on city’s busiest night of the year

Dec 31, 2008 (6:30 p.m.)

By Amanda Finnegan,
Cara McCoy,
Steve Silver

A New Year's Eve crowd of about 290,000 visitors packed Las Vegas into the early morning, ushering in a new year and saying goodbye to 12 months that some hoped to forget.

Motorcycle daredevil says Strip injury left ‘souvenir’

January 1, 2009

By Melissa Arseniuk

Robbie Maddison may have cheated death on New Year’s Eve but he didn’t walk away from his motorcycle jump and freefall stunt unharmed. On Thursday evening, he downplayed his torn flesh injury. "This is like a paper cut,” he said with a laugh.
Blog: Culture and Entertainment

Partying at the Palms

January 1, 2009 (3:29 p.m.)

By Melissa Arseniuk

The Palms is often referred to as the place to party by both young Hollywood types and party-loving common folk, and New Year's Eve is – and was – no exception.
NYE partiers find appeal in Fremont Street Experience

January 1, 2009

By Cydney Cappello,
Natasha Shepherd

Fancy cocktails that flow freely on the Strip were nowhere to be seen under the Fremont Street Experience’s canopy of lights. Instead, people walked around holding plastic cups shaped as footballs filled to the brim with beer.
Blog: Culture and Entertainment

A very Vegas New Year’s Eve with Mayor Oscar Goodman

January 1, 2009 (9:23 p.m.)

By John Katsilometes

New Year's Eve 2008 It is New Year’s Eve in downtown Las Vegas and everything about this scene is set at maximum volume. High above, on the multimillion-dollar Fremont Street Experience canopy, a splash of color accompanies the pulsating Queen anthem, “We Will Rock You/We ...
Hundreds celebrate new year in Henderson

January 1, 2009

By Frances Vanderploeg

As the explosion of each firework echoed through Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, hundreds of revelers whooped and hollered, welcoming the new year just as the minute hand ticked over to midnight.
Summerlin rings in New Year in style

January 1, 2009

By Jeff O'Brien

Whether they were dressed in their finest outfits or sporting goofy hats and sunglasses, thousands of people across Summerlin were ringing in the New Year with style Wednesday night.
Vegas mayor: New Year’s turnout beating last year

January 1, 2009

Associated Press

Vegas mayor: New Year's turnout beating last year
NYE Blog: Craziness abounds on Las Vegas Strip

December 31, 2008

By Andy Samuelson

OK, so it is officially Dec. 31 in the world’s craziest party city (or NYE for all 10 of you drunks who happen to stumble upon this blog), and I’m already on deadline....
Boulder City brings in 2009 with First Night event

January 1, 2009

By Frances Vanderploeg

Friends and family members gathered for an opportunity to purge their woes and express their hopes for the new year as part of Boulder City's fifth annual First Night.
291,000 to ring in 2009 in Las Vegas

December 31, 2008

By Cydney Cappello,
Amanda Finnegan

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is expecting 291,000 visitors for New Year’s Eve celebrations tonight, a 2.5 percent increase from the 284,000 people who visited the city last year.
Temperatures in 40s will usher in 2009

December 31, 2008

By Tim Richardson

Seasonal temperatures are in store tonight for partygoers welcoming in the new year.
Metro announces NYE street closures, ordinances

December 29, 2008

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Metro police today announced road closures for New Year’s Eve, as well as increased enforcement of city and county ordinances that ban bottles and cans from the Strip and downtown areas on Dec. 31.
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New Year’s Eve plans for Strip, downtown announced

December 16, 2008

By Amanda Finnegan

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and tourism officials announced details Tuesday for New Year’s Eve on the Strip and downtown. This year’s events will take on a theme called “Takin’ It to the Streets” with fireworks that will be fired from ground locations on the Strip, rather than casino rooftops, which had been the tradition in previous years.
Blog: Culture and Entertainment

New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas - A Guide to the Glitterati

December 22, 2008 (2:19 p.m.)

By Melissa Arseniuk

Here's a guide to glitterati — where celebrities will see and be seen in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve.
City to offer free bus service on New Year’s Eve

December 22, 2008

By Tim Richardson

Partygoers headed to the Strip or downtown on New Year's Eve will have the option of free transportation.
Off-Strip ultra lounge aiming for ‘affordable elegance’

December 22, 2008

By Melissa Arseniuk

The words “affordable” and “elegance” don’t usually belong in the same sentence, but a new ultra lounge is trying to change all that.
Economy poses test for The Strip’s big night

December 3, 2008

By Liz Benston

Strip casinos have maintained enviably high occupancy rates during this recession by offering deep discounts and unprecedented package deals – an indication that customers are still willing to open their wallets for bargains even in turbulent times.
BC ringing in 2009 with ‘Wall of Woes’

December 25, 2008

By Becky Bosshart

There won't be fireworks in Boulder City at his year's First Night New Year's Eve celebration. There will be a Wall of Woes, where visitors can write down their worries and have them all taken away for 2009.