In the heyday of Vegas, it wasn’t the Strip that was big, it was Fremont Street. The first hotel in Vegas, Golden Gate (formerly Nevada Hotel), opened in 1906 at Fremont and Main, and it’s still there. Casinos and hotels lined both sides of the avenue, and celebrities and stars could be seen in the glow of the famous lights.
But gradually, the resort business in downtown Las Vegas began to slow because of competition from the burgeoning Strip. By the early ’90s, the city and businesses felt they needed a draw, something that would give visitors more than a place to gamble; it would give them an … experience.
Many ideas for the downtown attraction were proposed, included building a replica of the Starship Enterprise or having a Sky Parade under a gigantic canopy; ultimately the VivaVision light show was selected. The canopy took more than a year to construct, beginning in 1994.
When it debuted in December of 1995, VivaVision consisted of thousands of sets of incandescent lights in panels secured to the underside of the Fremont Street Canopy; a sophisticated computer program and 32 computers installed along the Experience controlled the light shows, which played from dusk to midnight as crowds stood and gaped.
Since opening, VivaVison and the Fremont Street Experience have been upgraded several times, including one in 2004 that installed 12.5 million LEDS and the latest in 2019, which upgraded the canopy’s video screen, increased the lights to 49.3 million (which allows the attraction to play during daylight hours), and added new entertainment elements, including music by The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Steve Aoki, The Chainsmokers and Linkin Park. Currently, shows run from 6 p.m-1 a.m. daily, although those times change with the seasons. Several bars offer prime viewing spots for watchers.
Through the years, three stages have offered free shows with live bands such as Three Doors Down, Smash Mouth, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Melissa Etheridge, Everclear and many others. Buskers and artists provided additional entertainment, and new attractions have opened along the pedestrian promenade (and some have closed due to the pandemic). The biggest is certainly SlotZilla, a 12-story zipline whose towers are designed to resemble giant slot machines. Riders are launched either sitting or in a superhero flying position, reaching up to 40 mph.
The newest hotel opening off Fremont Street is Circa Resort & Casino, which opened in October and began receiving guests in December. Some of the coolest aspects of the hotel include its Stadium Swim, an enormous swimming pool complex with a 40-foot-tall TV screen; Circa|Sports, a three-story sports book; and a steakhouse headed by lauded chef Barry S. Dakake.
As Fremont Street evolves, there are likely to be many changes through the coming years—it’s sure it’ll be worth your time to see what the future holds.
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