Revelers watch a fireworks show on the Strip on New Years Eve Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.
Published Friday, Dec. 31, 2021 | 6 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022 | 1:35 a.m.
Welcome to 2022.
Despite gusty winds and the coronavirus again surging, revelers packed into the Las Vegas Strip to ring in the new year in a party of 300,000 festive participants. Millions more across the globe watched “America’s Party” from home.
It was capped by a nearly 10-minute fireworks display rocketing from the roofs of many resorts as the clock hit midnight in a majestic changeover to a new year.
In the hours before, there was also plenty socializing and high hopes for better fortune in 2022. It was the same narrative last year as the world was emerging from the health and economic difficulties brought on the pandemic.
The hope last year was that the start of the vaccine rollout would pave the way to the return to normality. But with new variants of the virus emerging, and the resistance of some to take the vaccine, the virus again has the world scrambling.
Clark County on Thursday set a record for daily cases at 3,363, but it wasn’t enough to limit New Year’s Eve gatherings. Facial coverings were required inside Strip properties, but not outside on the Strip, where it was shoulder-to-shoulder in various parts of the resort corridor.
Temperatures dipped into the low 30s and there was light rain, but the celebration wasn’t hampered. From revelers with funky 2022 costumes, to the consistent buzzing of noisemakers, to the flat-out joyful cheer of someone who had a few too many drinks, the celebration again appeared to be memorable for the visitors.
It was also safe.
Metro Police, which dispatched more than 1,200 officers to the Strip and downtown, didn’t report any major incidents during the celebration. Authorities reported that six people were transported to area hospitals: three for falls-trauma and three for intoxication. There were two fatal shootings earlier in the day at a Strip mall and locals casino. They are expected to release DUI figures and other arrests Saturday morning.
Amid the festivities, a power box reportedly caught fire, causing power outages for about an hour at the MGM Grand and New York-New York, both of which had switched to backup power.
The Nevada National Guard blocked the roads leading onto the Strip. Officials say those will be fully reopened by 6 a.m. after 10 to 12 tons of trash are collected by more than 22 street sweepers and workers.
We had reporters stationed throughout the city. Here are some of their observations:
• • •
Coordinated cleanup
Even though the party is over for the some 300,000 revelers who visited the Las Vegas Strip and downtown to ring in the New Year, plenty of work is yet to be done for the dozens of Clark County Public Works employees cleaning up the mess.
From trash pickup to street sweeping and picking up those pesky barriers that protect partiers from restricted areas, they’re the same folks who work virtually around the clock to help ensure a smooth time is had for all.
“We’ve become pretty well-versed in doing this,” said Clint Spencer, manager of the Clark County Public Works road division. “We’ve been doing it for several years, so, I think we’ve developed a pretty good plan.”
And a good plan is indeed needed for the estimated 10 to 12 tons of trash that is collected by street sweepers alone, according to county Commissioner Michael Naft. And planning for the cleanup of “America’s Party” started back in October, Spencer said.
Shortly after Metro Police closed Las Vegas Boulevard at 6 p.m., crews with the county and state placed 4,000 crowd control barriers, which are the last items picked up, which is normally around 4 a.m., Spencer said.
Once the ball drops and the party is over, Metro works to clear the Strip of any stragglers so the street sweeping can commence. This year, 22 street-sweeping trucks will clean Las Vegas Boulevard in a “V-formation” from curb-to-curb to make sure debris is cleared from the roadway before it reopens at 6 a.m.
“They start at Mandalay Bay (Road), and both sides of the street northbound and southbound Las Vegas Boulevard are all swept in unison,” Spencer said.
In all, about 90 workers are responsible for the cleanup, and many are working around the clock. It’s not conducive to bring in a different shift because they’re under such a strict deadline, Spencer said.
And even though the work keeps him busy, it’s a unique perspective to see the Strip clear out as a city on the brink of hangover gets ready to do it all over again.
“I would say it’s not as eerie as back when COVID first hit,” Spencer said. “If you had ever seen where the Strip was just completely vacant and nobody there, it’s not like that. But it has similarities to it.”
— Casey Harrison
• • •
Getting around
Need a ride during your festivities? Here are a few options:
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is offering free bus rides on all fixed routes from 6 p.m. Friday through 9 a.m. Saturday. RTC is also partnering with Lyft. Use code RIDESMART2022 for $10 off a ride.
To travel along the Strip, you can take the Las Vegas Monorail. It will operate continuously through New Year’s Day until 3 a.m. Sunday. Regularly priced tickets are $5 for a single ride. You can buy tickets here.
Uber is also available, but expect surcharges later into the night.
Remember that transportation access will be limited on the Strip and Fremont Street due to road closures, so plan to walk a little bit.
— Jessica Hill
• • •
Pyrotechnician Robert Inga, with Fireworks by Grucci, sets up the wires that control thier New Year's Eve fireworks show on the roof of Planet Hollywood in preperation for the end of the year celebration, Thursday Dec. 30, 2021.
Rocking the pyrotechnics
Fireworks technician Robert Inga has been setting up pyrotechnics displays around the world for 26 years.
With Fireworks by Grucci, he’s worked on small shows like carnivals and he’s worked on mega shows like the grand opening of Atlantis The Palm, a sprawling luxury resort in Dubai. For the latter, he was one of 200 pyrotechnicians behind a 15-minute show.
That’s more than three times as many fireworks professionals that Fireworks by Grucci sent to Las Vegas tonight for the America’s Party festival on the Strip, for a show twice as long. And America’s Party is world-famous for its annual choreographed music and light show.
So smaller than some spectacles as the Las Vegas show may be, Inga has a fondness for this assignment. He said he’s been to town about 70 times for his work, between Grucci’s New Year’s and Fourth of July shows, and “every year is good,” he said. His first show was in 1995, when he was assigned to the rooftop of Palace Station.
This year, he will be set up atop Planet Hollywood, one of this year’s eight firing locations. At midnight, he’ll be on the ground among throngs of revelers near the mid-Strip hotel, his trained eye looking for errant embers in cooperation with local authorities. He’s also a longtime volunteer firefighter from Rocky Point, New York, a town on Long Island. He’s familiar with fire in all its forms.
A fellow firefighter turned Inga on to becoming a pyrotechnician, and he sticks with it because his colleagues are good people who have his back, like in the fire department.
The people of Las Vegas are good too, he said. They come from all over the world, and it’s an exciting place.
“It’s the city that never sleeps, like New York,” he said.
— Hillary Davis
• • •
ReBar bartender Natalie Allen chooses among party paraphernalia, like hats and streamers, ready for distribution, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.
Celebrating at ReBar
A local watering hole in the Las Vegas Arts District is a repose for residents seeking a New Years Eve away from the Strip.
ReBar — with its cheap drinks and cheery bar staff — is drenched in soft red lighting, its walls adorned with art, jewelry and towering beer steins for purchase. A complimentary champagne toast at midnight awaits those present for the grand moment.
General manager Shani Garrett, who opened the bar in 2016 with Derek Stonebarger, sat at the back of the bar with kitchen manager Connie McKnight, who was wearing a tottering New Year’s headband. Other party paraphernalia, like hats and streamers, were ready for distribution behind the bar.
“We're a very small community (in the Arts District),” Garrett said. “We all know each other. Our business owners know each other. Customers know each other. So the community and the interaction is what I'm looking forward to.”
For Liltzy Reyes, a five-year Vegas resident, ReBar is the first stop before a small family gathering. While drinking a tall Bud Light, she said she likes ReBar’s eclectic feel. She frequents the bar often with friends but said she likes to keep her New Year's celebrations understated.
“I try not to do anything big, definitely not going to the Strip,” she said. “I feel like we're a great city that has a lot of transplants, so you always get to meet a diverse amount of people.”
One bartender, Natalie Allen, wears a black-and-white flannel, bright gold eyeshadow and black eyeliner etched on her eyelids, as she serves $3 mystery beers and mixed drinks to patrons encircling the soft wood bar.
Allen said she thinks customers are loyal to ReBar because of its local-centric feel — not the typical experience some may see in Las Vegas.
“It's a little bit off the beaten path — it's not your typical Vegas kind of bar. It's nice to get away from the gaming a little bit.”
— Arleigh Rodgers
• • •
Low-key lounge on NYE
As thousands flooded the Las Vegas Strip to ring in the new year seeking Vegas' more raucous backdrops, others came to celebrate in a much more discreet fashion.
Scores made their way into Mandalay Bay Friday for the grand opening of S Bar, a spacious low-key lounge across from Lupo by Wolfgang Puck. The venture is backed by sbe Entertainment Group and comes by way of locations in Los Angeles and Miami and another on the way in New York.
“It’s taken a village to get it done in such a short time,” said general manager and 19-year hospitality veteran Tylor Kezar. “Combining the exclusivity and intimacy of a Los Angeles lounge with the Las Vegas grandeur and lights, we’ve created this very VIP experience, which is very elegant and plush for every guest that walks through that door.”
Guests were able to sip from a selection of a dozen handcrafted cocktails designed by Yael Vengroff, the head of bar programming and chief mixologist for each location. That’s not to mention a full bottle service menu with each mixer paired with several options for spirits.
“I didn’t want to do what everybody has already done before,” Vengroff said. “I think this space screams New Year’s Eve year round.”
Inside, the quiet lighting of lounge space accents the venue’s bar, which is trimmed with a tapestry of golden tassels draping from the ceiling. And on the menu, offerings such as tuna poké with wonton chips, wagyu beef sliders and lobster mac and cheese from executive chef Tanawat Bates.
Not to mention hip-hop violinist Brandon Summers strolled through the lounge serenading guests with the year’s greatest hits.
“By no means is this venue supposed to be pretentious at all. It’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be enjoyable, and just comfortable."
— Casey Harrison
• • •
Mike Defender of Montana is relishing his first visit to Las Vegas for a New Year’s Eve celebration.
Visitors: Nothing beats Vegas
The Strip is packed with visitors from out of state, some from outside of the United States and even some locals.
They all have a different reason for being here to ring in the new year.
Take Marcelino Armando Ramos, a Phoenix resident who is here for the third time for an America’s Party celebration.
Ramos is looking forward to dancing and walking around to various casinos — even as the temperatures reach the low 30s and the wind is picking up around 9 p.m.
And then there is Mike Defender, who is visiting Las Vegas for the first time from Montana for a New Year’s Eve celebration. Defender is easily spotted inside Bally’s with yardstick margarita, multipatterned zip-up hoodie and smile from ear to ear.
Nothing beats Las Vegas, he said.
“I’m a people person,” he said. “And I talk to a lot of people.”
Defender says the surging coronavirus wasn’t going to limit his plans, because he’s already had the virus and recovered after five or six days.
— Jessica Hill
• • •
Drawn to the music, heat
Nothing warms you up on a blustery New Year’s Eve like a volcano. Or a dance party. Or a dance party at the foot of a volcano.
A roving discotheque swirled, stomped and whooped down the Strip, its leader towing a wheeled speaker blasting salsa and ranchero music and orbited by people he picked up along the way. One of them was Luna Sebastian, a visitor from Tucson, Arizona, who joined the group as it paused outside the Mirage as the volcano roared its hourly eruption.
She and several family members came to Las Vegas for the holiday after skipping it last year because of the pandemic.
Next stop for Luna on the night’s Strip tour: “quite literally, wherever the music goes.”
— Hillary Davis
• • •
Tammy and Mark Musselwhite enjoys a performance by Amanda King and her Prohibition Band during the New Year's Eve 2022 party at The Mob Museum's Underground speakeasy Friday Dec. 31, 2021.
Party at The Underground
Over at the Mob Museum, partygoers enter the secret, dark green side door to a sold-out party at The Underground, the museum’s speakeasy. The festivities began at 9 p.m. and would extend, after a champagne toast at midnight, until 1 a.m.
Inside the speakeasy, jazz musician Amanda King’s prohibition band plays in soaring, jazzy style, with a bold drum and bright piano echoing off the speakeasy’s brick walls.
Prohibition-era attire is encouraged for the event, and guests take the instruction to glorious lengths. For Tammy and Mark Musslewhite, local recurrent attendees of The Underground, the speakeasy is the perfect location for formal dress.
While Tammy wore a long black and silver dress and a feathery fur coat, Mark donned a crisp suit, with a 1920s vintage hat.
"This place gives us the perfect opportunity to dress up," Tammy said. "And I have to say, it's kind of the perfect setting."
King, wearing a bejeweled black gown and matching earrings, said she is thrilled to spend an evening performing at the speakeasy, where she typically plays twice a month.
“Normally I’m a homebody,” she said. “But tonight I was like, it's nice to bust out and share tonight with my good friends, and I love this place. This is one of the most fun places, to me, in all of Las Vegas.”
The night’s open bar is staffed by bartenders mixing signature cocktails like Giggle Water, based on a French 75 drink with a combination of ginger chamomile vodka, champagne and bitters. The vodka changes seasonally, said Clint Thoman, director of food and beverage for the museum.
Thoman said the old-fashioneds are also typically popular at The Underground, particularly featuring the vanilla bean-infused bourbon, brown sugar, simple syrup and sassafras bitters. Food from The Underground’s usual menu was also available.
“It’ll be good to put a bow on the year, and I look forward to 2022,” Thoman said. “I always find time toward the end of the night to go around to the guests ... and my staff, all the folks who work here, to wish them a happy new year.”
Mary and Tammy Musselwhite both sipped old-fashioneds as they listened to King and her band play.
"We're not really into the big, crowded areas," Mark Musselwhite said. "This gives us a nice intimate evening that we get good music, good drinks and not be shoulder to shoulder."
— Arleigh Rodgers
• • •
Partying like Europeans
Gusts snapped around Oksana Lohinava and her friend group as they stood in the street between Caesars Palace and Bellagio, waiting, hopefully, for a midnight fireworks show.
The wind died down enough, but even if it hadn’t it was obvious the crew of seven was having fun regardless.
Lohinava and friends were here from Ewing, N.J., by way of Belarus. Some have celebrated the new year in Vegas a few times. For others, it was their first time.
“It’s a beautiful city,” said Lohinava, one of the returning visitors. “It’s always a fun time.”
Her husband, Sergei Lohinavu, in a festive gold sequined fedora, said Vegas celebrates like Europeans do, with singing and dancing in the street — “and,” he added cheerfully, “drinking!”
— Hillary Davis
