When AREA15 opened in 2020, Las Vegas already had plenty of over-the-top attractions. What it didn’t have was a 40-acre playground where you could walk through an alien grocery store, throw axes, stumble upon a massive art installation and have a cocktail in a digital forest. And now this parallel-to-the-Strip destination is pushing even further into uncharted territory with Zone 2, its latest expansion.
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Zone 2 transforms AREA15 from a single 200,000-square-foot venue into a sprawling “retailtainment” district that defies easy categorization. The centerpiece is Universal Horror Unleashed, Universal Destinations & Experiences’ first-ever year-round, fully immersive horror experience.
The expansion brings dozens of newly installed sculptures and murals, pushing AREA15’s collection to more than 60 sculptures and 30 murals, officially making it the largest permanent installation of monumental festival art in the world. Walking through the massive space feels like wandering onto the set of a sci-fi movie where the art director had both unlimited budget and boundless creativity.
Despite major corporate partners like Universal moving in, what makes AREA15 a beloved Vegas destination is its commitment to local artists, who are given the space to create a world as weird and as wonderful as their visions allow.
“Art is part of our fundamental ethos and brand value,” Winston Fisher, AREA15’s CEO, tells Las Vegas Magazine. “We don’t even think about it; it’s just what we do. (One of our new attractions will be) an experience called Tiny Worlds, where local artists build these micro villages. We just put art everywhere.”
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After Tiny Worlds, how do you balance the scale? With a large commercial jet bursting out of a building, of course. Coming soon, a Boeing 747 from Burning Man is being reimagined as a dining and nightlife venue, and Fisher can barely contain his excitement about it.
“I’m very excited about the 747 that’s going to be an event space. We can throw parties in there and set up lighting and rigging,” he says. “Come back in a month, and we’re going to have a psychedelic carousel right there.”
The expansion includes other sensory pleasures, too: new bars like the Looper Bar, food options including The Beast Mobile Food Trailer, and retail kiosks that somehow make shopping feel like performance art. Chilango’s Tacos, Saint Honoré Doughnuts & Beignets and Nacho Daddy will join the culinary scene, because immersive art works up quite an appetite. Also, guests can now travel between zones on the Grounded Intra-district Tram (GIT), because why walk when you can ride a futuristic transport system?
It turns out that AREA15’s commitment to constant evolution has become its best attraction. This isn’t a static theme park or traditional entertainment complex but a living experiment in what happens when you give creative minds space to build impossible things. The Massive: Galactic Zoo event on Sept. 13 demonstrates this philosophy, transforming the entire district into an “otherworldly wonderland.”
Five years in and 15 million visitors strong, AREA15 is just getting started.
3215 S. Rancho Drive. area15.com
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