Angelica Cervantes, mother of Route 91 victim Erick Silva, cries while listening to a performance by Outlaws & Angels during the opening reception of the 5 Years Later: Remembering 1 October & Becoming Vegas Stronger exhibit at The Clark County Museum in Henderson, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.
Friday, Sept. 30, 2022 | 2 a.m.
It’s been nearly five years since the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, but it continues to be important to “recognize the strength and resiliency that we continue to demonstrate as a community in response to the tragedy with every passing year,” Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said.
The mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017, left 58 people dead and more than 800 wounded. Another two festival-goers died of their injuries in 2020. The mass shooting remains the deadliest in modern U.S. history.
The gunman opened fire on the crowd from a hotel tower across from the festival grounds before eventually killing himself.
Authorities never determined a motive for the shooting.
“It’s important for us to honor the lives lost and forever changed because of 1 October,” Gibson said in a statement. “Our community can be proud of how we responded to the darkness of that day and remember the outpouring of love and support we received from each other and from across the country and around the world.”
Here is a list of some of the events marking the anniversary of the tragedy. All events are free unless otherwise noted.
A full list of events is available on the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center’s website, vegasstrongrc.org.
• The Clark County Museum exhibit “5 Years Later: Remembering 1 October and Becoming Vegas Stronger” runs through Jan. 30.
The exhibit includes letters, posters, signs and other items from the museum’s 22,000-piece 1 October collection.
The museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $2.
• Items from the Clark County Museum’s 1 October collection will be on display at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, through Oct. 13. The exhibit will be open for viewing from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
The display will also include the Art of Healing mural and the Angels of Love exhibit.
The mural was created by local artists and students at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts. It contains nine panels with teddy bear images representing the lives lost on Oct. 1 and condolence messages the public was invited to write the first year the mural was on display.
The Angels of Love exhibit, created by a California nonprofit group, contains stained glass angels and memorabilia dedicated to the first responders at the shooting scene. It has been on display at the Government Center since it was given to the county in 2018.
• The annual 1 October Sunrise Remembrance Ceremony will be conducted from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the anniversary of the shooting, at the Clark County Government Center amphitheater, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.
The event will feature live music, an honor guard, a minute of silence for those who lost their lives and remarks from officials including Gov. Steve Sisolak, as well as the mother of one of the victims.
Attendees might want to bring lawn chairs as seating will be limited.
The ceremony will also be aired live on Clark County Television, Cox channel 4 in Las Vegas, and on the county’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch profiles.
• Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman will participate in a ceremony to read aloud the names of each person who lost their life in the attack. A bell will toll and a candle will be lit in remembrance of each victim.
The event will start at 10:05 p.m. Saturday at the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden, 1015 S. Casino Center Blvd. It will also be carried on the city’s KCLV television station, Cox channel 2, as well as on its Twitter and Facebook channels.
• The Centennial Hills and Sahara West libraries will display donated quilts honoring the victims and survivors of the shooting. The quilts will be available for viewing from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays through Sundays through Oct. 19.
The Centennial Hills Library is at 6711 N. Buffalo Drive, and the Sahara West Library is at 9600 W. Sahara Ave.
The handmade quilts were donated for raffle by individuals and quilting guilds. For more information about the raffle, click here: https://bit.ly/3dRtnVj.
• A Remember Music Festival is scheduled for 1 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday at the Clark County Government Center amphitheater, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.
The group Midland will headline the festival, which will also feature acts such as Dylan Schneider, Drew Green, Meghan Patrick, Walker Montgomery and Seth Ennis.
Tickets cost $85, and all proceeds will go toward a permanent Oct. 1 memorial in Las Vegas. For tickets and more information, click here: https://bit.ly/3y3AXTt.
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