New Year’s Eve fireworks shows to dazzle Las Vegas Strip for 12th consecutive year

By Amanda Finnegan

Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 | 3:22 p.m.

There are still two weeks left until New Year’s Eve, but pyrotechnics are already busy atop Strip rooftops preparing to light up the Las Vegas sky.

Officials from Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority promised their most elaborate show yet during a press conference Friday.

“Visitors and locals have come to expect a lot from this show, and I don’t think they’ll be let down this year at all,” LVE President Pat Christenson said.

The displays will be shot from seven casino rooftop locations, which include MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, the Venetian and the Stratosphere. The locations are the same as last year.

Produced by Grucci of New York, the eight-minute, six-second program with include nearly 50,000 effects in reds, greens, oranges, blues, golds and purples. The Grucci family has produced Fourth of July shows in Las Vegas for the past 20 years, as well as two Olympic Games and celebrations on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The show will be choreographed to songs by Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, Jackie Wilson, and of course, “Auld Lang Syne” will be played at midnight.

Last year, the fireworks display returned to casino rooftops after being shot off from casino parking lots in 2008 because of changes in permitting requirements, which included hiring third-party fire safety consultants to evaluate rooftop conditions.

Christen said LVE, the LVCVA and Grucci have worked closely with the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services to ensure both fire and structural guidelines.

This year marks the 12th consecutive year of fireworks on the Strip — and the last for Mayor Oscar Goodman in his role as mayor of Las Vegas.

“This is the 12th year for this event and I was elected 12 years ago and each year it gets better and better,” Goodman said. “Just imagine the most famous street in the world, the Las Vegas Strip, with the more glamorous fireworks display in the world going all the way to our wonderful downtown area.”

Fremont Street will celebrate New Year’s with its 3rd annual TributePalozza with 12 bands performing throughout the night and a virtual fireworks display on the LED canopy at midnight. Admission will be $20.

Cathy Tull, LVCVA senior vice president of marketing, said the city expects to host about 310,000 visitors during New Year’s Eve weekend with an estimated non-gaming economic impact of $175 million.

Tull said the city still has room available for visitors looking to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. With the addition of the 2,995-Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, which opened this week, Las Vegas now has more than 150,000 rooms.