Las Vegas has always had an explosive atmosphere, especially during the Atomic Age. Downtown visitors had the closest view to the Nevada Test Site, which led to testings becoming events for spectators on Fremont Street. Nowadays downtown revelers are treated to weekly 9:15 p.m. detonations since Plaza began its Welcome to the Weekend Summer Friday Fireworks shows that run through Aug. 30.
This year’s Fourth of July fireworks have to be something special. Jonathan Jossel, who became chief executive officer of Plaza in 2014, has overseen renovations in recent years that include the streetside Carousel Bar. It’s a prime viewing spot for the show, along with Plaza’s rooftop pool.
“It’s been a great 17 years (in Las Vegas),” says Jossel. “It’s been great to see downtown evolve the way it has. The change and the progress have been incredible.”
The ongoing fireworks show is a celebration of that change and progress. Under the supervision of Nate Tanner, project manager for Pyrotek Special Effects Inc., the show lasts for seven to eight minutes, with some 1,000 to 1,500 aerial shells launched from rooftop mortars. A handful of techs handle setup, strike and fire watch phases of the show and are supported by Plaza engineering staff assigned to different areas of the property. City fire marshals arrive after the show “to ensure everything is safe and nothing is left unturned.”
Pyrotechnics at Plaza began after its 2016 remodel of the rooftop pool, which was celebrated that year on July 2 with the first fireworks show during Jossel’s tenure. The next year, Plaza celebrated the one-year anniversary of the rooftop pool’s redesign and began producing Fourth of July fireworks shows.
“We’ve done it every year since. Even during the pandemic, we did it,” says Jossel. “It’s been something I’ve played around with. We do New Year’s Eve and July 4, but we also do other events. Earlier this year I was in Disneyland and what I couldn’t believe was how many people just keep on watching fireworks. No matter where I go in the world, people are watching fireworks.”
Fireworks show have been happening in Southern Nevada since at least 1923 at the Nevada State Fair. In the early ’60s the Las Vegas Fire Department began sending rockets up from Cashman Field’s original location, then moved it to the Silver Bowl (now Sam Boyd Stadium) in 1971.
That’s miles away from Downtown Las Vegas, which had its own Fourth of July shows since at least the ’70s. The Plaza is the only contemporary downtown staging zone for the summer holiday, although there are now shows on the Strip and at various points around the Las Vegas Valley.
The Disney trip made Jossel consider the impact of weekly fireworks launched from the Plaza’s 1 N. Main St. address. Now the sky is lit up every week, and this week’s festivities in particular are likely to provide the most impressive spectacle in the sky downtowners have ever witnessed.
Plaza. plazahotelcasino.com
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