Venue
Paradise, Nevada, United States
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New Year's Eve on the Las Vegas Strip (America's Party) guide
Fireworks along the whole Las Vegas skyline.
In short
America's Party on Thursday 31 December 2026 suits revellers who prefer a walkable street crowd over a single square. The Strip closes to cars, and a choreographed display bursts from resort rooftops at midnight. The view changes block by block, so choose your spot carefully. The LVCVA confirms resorts and closures shortly before.
America's Party is what the casino city calls its New Year's Eve, when the main boulevard through the resort district closes to cars and fills with people on foot. At midnight one choreographed fireworks display bursts from hotel rooftops along its whole length, watched by hundreds of thousands of revellers below.
What sets it apart from other big countdowns is the stage itself. There is no single square or riverbank here. The show is spread across miles of casino skyline, so the crowd is spread out too, and the view changes depending on which block you choose. Rooms high above the street see the whole skyline flare at once, while people below see the resorts closest to them.
It is also the one night when the street belongs to walkers. Strolling down the middle of six lanes among strangers in party hats is half the appeal, whatever happens at the tables afterwards.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Las Vegas, United States
Venue: Las Vegas Boulevard South
Held: Every year
Type of event: Party Events, Live Events, Cultural Events
Currency: US dollar ($ USD)
Time zone: Pacific Time, UTC−8; UTC−7 from March to November
Language: English; Spanish widely spoken
Map
Close to the venue
- The Neon Museum Attraction · 7.1 km
- Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel · 870 m
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Items banned at Strip and Fremont Street checkpoints
Police screen people entering the Strip and Fremont Street on New Year's Eve, and the banned list is longer than many visitors expect. Leave these in your room:
- glass bottles of any kind
- large bags, luggage, backpack-style diaper bags and computer bags
- strollers and carts
A small cross-body pouch for phone, ID and a card is the simplest way through. Parents with small children should plan for a carrier, or watch from a hotel room.
Choosing a spot and staying with your group
Choose your block early and agree a fallback meeting point with your group, such as a named resort entrance, because phone calls are hard to hear in the noise. Keep to the edges if you need to leave quickly; the middle of the boulevard is where the crowd packs tightest.
Pace yourself on drinks. It is a long evening on your feet, and the walk back afterwards is slow. Comfortable shoes matter more than a smart outfit. If you want the fireworks music, the soundtrack has been carried on local FM radio, so a phone radio app and earbuds let you hear it over the crowd.
What happens on the day
- About 17:30
Closures begin
Roads around the Strip, and the I-15 exits towards the casinos, start to shut.
- 18:00
The boulevard closes
Las Vegas Boulevard becomes a pedestrian street; by 20:00 no vehicle could use the Strip between Spring Mountain Road and Reno Avenue at a recent edition.
- Evening
Crowds build
- About 23:30
Test shots
Crews fire test shells to read the wind; conditions are checked hourly.
- Midnight
Rooftop fireworks
- After midnight
The slow walk back
Many people stay out and let the street empty first.
Booking a hotel room with a view of the Strip
The fireworks are fired from casino rooftops strung along the whole 4-mile Strip, so almost every hotel window with a boulevard view catches part of the show. The trick is to see several launch points at once. At the last edition ten resorts took part, from MGM Grand near the southern end up to Fontainebleau, Resorts World and The STRAT in the north.
If you would rather watch outside, local reporters have recommended the northern blocks from the Fashion Show mall up to Resorts World. That stretch sits within view of several northern rooftops at once. For dinner, shows and the rest of your stay, our Las Vegas city guide covers the wider town.
America's Party and the rooftop fireworks
The tradition of America's Party goes back to 2000, and it is presented by the city's convention and visitors authority. The edition that welcomed the latest new year was the 25th. Its theme, Rockin' into 2026, Vegas Style, ended in a red, white and blue finale that opened a year of events for America's 250th birthday, with resorts flashing matching messages across their marquees.
One company has shaped most of it. Fireworks by Grucci produced 21 of the 25 shows, with an unbroken run over the last 19, and the team spends roughly a year designing every show. Rigging the ten rooftops for the latest show took five days, more than 3,360 man-hours and a crew of 74 pyrotechnicians and staff.
The drones were the newest layer. Their sky pictures included the old welcome sign, a spinning roulette wheel and a slot machine, a very local joke played above the people who keep those machines busy. Downtown keeps its own tradition. Fremont Street runs a separate countdown beneath its LED canopy, with stages and fireworks from the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
Getting there
Flying in
Harry Reid International is at the southern end of the Strip. Taxis add an airport surcharge; rideshare drivers also pick up. Arrive on 30 December or early on the 31st, before the evening closures.
Along the Strip
The Deuce double-decker bus runs the length of the boulevard around the clock on normal days. The Las Vegas Monorail tracks the east side, stopping behind several resorts and at the Convention Center, with no link to downtown or the airport.
On the night
Plan to walk. Fremont Street downtown is a separate trip; pick one celebration and stay put.
Where to stay during the festival
Rooms with a boulevard view go first, so reserve well ahead; a high room facing the Strip near the middle gives the widest sweep of rooftops.
If you plan to watch from the street, stay within walking distance. Mid-Strip means you can duck back for a jacket without fighting the crowd for an hour.
Las Vegas
Bellagio Las Vegas5-star hotel
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- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
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Weather and what to pack
Desert nights in late December are cold. Las Vegas averages a daytime high of about 14°C (57°F) and a low of about 4°C (40°F) in December, and the hour before midnight can be close to freezing. Wind is the main threat to the show.
Worth packing
- A warm jacket, hat and gloves
- Comfortable shoes for hours on your feet
- A portable phone charger
- ID, which casinos check at every door
Car hire in Las Vegas
Airport transfer to New Year's Eve on the Las Vegas Strip (America's Party)
Met at arrivals at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and driven door to door to Las Vegas Boulevard South.
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) → Las Vegas Boulevard South
- 7.2 km · 10 min
Restaurants and food in United States
Places to eat in United States before or after the celebrations.
Joe's Stone Crab
11 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States
Cuisine:SeafoodAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Bar
Alinea
1723 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
Cuisine:ModernistAmerican
- Dine-in
- Counter seating
Franklin Barbecue
900 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702, United States
Cuisine:Texas barbecueAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States
Cuisine:CreoleNew Orleans
- Dine-in
Katz's Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002, United States
Cuisine:Jewish deliAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Counter seating
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Getting there
At the most recent edition there were ten: ARIA, Caesars Palace, Fontainebleau, MGM Grand, Palms, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World, The STRAT, TI and The Venetian. The list can change from year to year.
Not for long. Closures begin in the late afternoon and the Strip is shut to all vehicles for the evening, so park at your hotel or arrive on foot well before the closures start.
Timing & weather
About eight minutes. All the rooftops fire together at midnight, so the show is short but dense, and you will see several resorts lighting up at once from most of the Strip.
General
No. The Strip is closed to traffic and open to anyone on foot, so watching from the boulevard costs nothing. Resort parties, rooftop bars and restaurants sell their own New Year's Eve tickets separately.
Conditions are checked every hour, and test shots go up about half an hour before midnight. If the wind makes it unsafe, the display is moved to New Year's Day.
No. Most of the Strip lies in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, just south of the city limits. It makes no practical difference to visitors on the night.
The most recent edition added 600 LED drones flying in time with the fireworks, the first time drones were part of the show. Whether they return is confirmed when each year's plans are released.
Yes. The Fremont Street Experience holds its own Countdown Under The Canopy, with several live stages and a midnight fireworks display fired from the Plaza Hotel & Casino. It suits people who prefer an older, more compact setting.
At the 2024 edition the soundtrack was broadcast on FM stations 97.1 and 92.3. Tune in on a phone radio app to hear it in sync with the bursts overhead.
Sphere serves as the official countdown clock. Its huge LED exterior, the Exosphere, runs a custom New Year's show and counts down the last seconds before the rooftops fire.
Booking
The latest projection was about 345,000 visitors, and police planned for 400,000 across the Strip and Fremont Street the year before. Either way, expect the busiest night of the year on the boulevard.