Fremont Street Experience

Experience facts The average Viva Vision light show is six minutes long. Viva Vision’s projection surface is currently the largest screen in the world, spanning 1,500 feet in length (That’s the size of five football fields) The screen contains 12.5 million synchronized LED lamps, including 180 strobes and eight robotic mirrors per block. The lamp life of the bulbs is 50,000 hours. Average daily attendance at the Fremont Street Experience is more than 25,000. Last year, nearly 19 million people visited downtown Las Vegas

Glittering lights. Stunning visual and sound effects. Crowds of people.

Just another night on the Las Vegas Strip, right? Wrong.

Welcome to the Fremont Street Experience located in fabulous Downtown Las Vegas.

This project blends vintage Las Vegas with high tech wonderment, live entertainment and more to create an attraction that rivals the famed Vegas Strip.

Now more people than ever are flocking to this area. In 2006, the experience had 19 million visitors.

“Visitors come to Fremont Street Experience for multiple reasons,” said Jeff Victor, president of the Fremont Street Experience. “We offer free live entertainment, an intimate party atmosphere with a laid back feel and a group of great casinos in close proximity to one another.”

Lighting up the Vegas skies

The most obvious and largest part of the Fremont Street Experience is the Viva Vision canopy and light show. The canopy towers 90 feet above the ground and spans the length of five football fields. Featuring more than 12 million LED modules and 555,000-watt sound system, the light show attracts tourists and locals alike.

The first light show was broadcast in 1995. Nearly a decade later in 2004, $17 million was invested in upgrading the Viva Vision canopy. Significant improvements were made and now it has 10 times higher resolution, resulting in clearer, sharper pictures. It can also display 16.7 million color combinations. The display is so sharp, live video can be broadcast on what is the world's largest screen.

Viva Vision features shows like “Lucky Vegas,” celebrating the city’s famous icons, “Downtown Divas,” a tribute to a girls’ night out and “Speed, Smoke and Spinning Wheels,” which illustrates the world of fast-paced auto racing.

Psychedelic shows include “The Drop,” a journey through an underwater utopia filled with beautiful sea creatures and “Shag With a Twist,” an animated show that features Southern California artist Josh Agle's unique artwork combining elements of “Austin Powers,” “The Jetsons,” tiki culture and '60s imagery.

Visitors can also enjoy the patriotic show, “American Freedom” during Fourth of July.

Released in Spring 2008, "A Tribute to Queen" is  the first Viva Vision show dedicated to one artist. Visitors can listen to "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" while admiring the stunning graphics above.  

Inside the Fremont Street Experience building, a master control room delivers all the magic to the Viva Vision light show. Technicians have only three minutes to load the show on the big screen. They are assisted by eight high-tech computers that intertwine the light, visual and audio systems.

Cameras are mounted on the actual Viva Vision screen and transmit a live video feed to a row of LCD screens inside the control room so technicians can monitor the show.

New Viva Vision shows are created each year and are rotated in and out. The Experience can choose from a library of about 15 shows at any given time.

More than just a light show

While the Viva Vision canopy is an amazing wonder, the Fremont Street Experience is more than just choreographed lights and sounds.

Each year the Experience hosts a number of special events including Race Jam during the NASCAR weekend, the annual Downtown Hoedown during NFR and Las Vegas Bike Fest in September. Live bands perform outside nightly.

“We are constantly creating events and experiences here for both locals and tourists,” said Victor.

Shops on the Fremont Street Experience walk include a spray paint artist creating masterpieces in minutes as well as kiosks selling souvenir items like engraved rice grain jewelry, unique T-shirts, hats and much more.

Visitors can also experience Fremont East, located between Las Vegas Blvd. and Eighth St. Emphasizing the glamour of vintage Las Vegas, Fremont East includes wider sidewalks, more pedestrian-friendly streets, landscaping, lighted gateways as well as four 40-foot-tall neon signs. Located in the heart of downtown, Fremont East sits adjacent to the Experience.

From the free live entertainment and little shops to the spectacular Viva Vision light show, there is something for everyone.

“The Fremont Street Experience and the surrounding casinos offer a very different feel than the Strip,” Victor said. “Guests often use the word ‘real’ when they talk about this environment. The energy of the group is really great. They bring big smiles, curious eyes and lots of laughter.”

-- Review by Jeannie Borbe