Entertainment and activities
Security Protocols: The curtain on entertainment in Las Vegas was finally lifted in October, but capacity limits have kept many theaters dark until now. Several long-standing productions, including Le Rêve at Wynn Las Vegas, Australian vocal quartet Human Nature at Venetian Las Vegas, and Chippendales at Rio, have all announced they won’t be back – though the strip revue’s pretty guys have recently made a return -location to be determined.
During the pandemic, Finger Licking Foodie Tours began (and continues) to offer self-guided, socially distant dining experiences in downtown Las Vegas and Chinatown, as well as the Venetian and Wynn on the Strip and the Green Valley Ranch in Henderson.
What’s new: Area 15, full of new food options, as well as a Museum of Selfies with an upside down room and an emoji pool (opening 1st Circus Circus has since unveiled an update of its legendary Midway and added 30 new games, including the latest and most sought-after crane machines and virtual reality games. Free hourly circus acts are also back.
And opened last year – with no fans in the stands for the inaugural season – is the sleek, nearly $ 2 billion, 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium. The stadium, home of the city’s new NFL team, the Raiders, is expected to be full of fans for the upcoming football season.
Coming soon: The popular music, art and food festival Life Is Beautiful, which fell victim to the pandemic last year, is returning to downtown Las Vegas in September.
Although the modern circus company Cirque du Soleil filed for bankruptcy protection last June, the long-running Vegas game will reopen from July O in the Bellagio Hotel-Casino and Mystere in the Treasure Island Hotel-Casino. The Blue Man Group will also return to the Luxor Hotel and Casino. In Downtown Las Vegas there is again free live music at the Fremont Street Experience.
The stars are also returning. Usher has already added six dates to his residency at the Coliseum of Caesars Palace, which will begin in July; the iconic Donny Osmond begins a solo residency at Harrah’s in August. Also in August, the Jonas Brothers start their 44-day tour at the Park Theater in Park MGM. Resorts World has also unveiled an iconic line-up of headliners for its 5,000-seat theater, starting with Celine Dion in November.
transport
The Las Vegas Monorail returns in time for Memorial Day weekend.
Then there is the Vegas Loop – an ambitious project by Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. It will begin as a fleet of autonomous Teslas that will transport visitors through an underground tunnel to either end of the vast Las Vegas Convention Center. (Test drives are now underway.) Eventually, the loop is set to be expanded into a people mover that will circulate between several Strip properties and downtown Vegas.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on September 25, 2020. It has been updated to reflect new openings and security procedures in Las Vegas.
