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Fremont Street Experience
Fremont Street (aka Glitter Gulch) is home to some of the most recognizable icons of Las Vegas including Vegas Vic, the cigarette smoking electric cowboy outside of the Pioneer Club.  Throughout the 1950s and 60s, this area of downtown Vegas underwent a huge building spree during which dozens of hotels sprung up in a blaze of neon. Some of the principle hotels that make up this section of town include The Golden Gate (Las Vegas' oldest hotel), The Golden Nugget, The Four Queens, The Las Vegas Club and Binion's Horseshoe. Together, these and other establishments that have lined Fremont Street are, to a large degree, responsible for the creation of Vegas' image as the world's glitziest city. In the early 1950s, the hotels and casinos that lined Fremont began to import some of the biggest celebrity acts of the period. Headliners such as Frank Sinatra, Don Rickles and Buddy Hackett attracted audiences from all over the country, marking Vegas' segue into the multi-million dollar entertainment industry for which it is now famous. Unlike the new thousand plus room hotels that line the Vegas Strip, the largest hotels downtown rarely have more than a couple hundred rooms. The size of these hotels, however, does little to diminish their extravagant appeal. For example, the Golden Nugget (as its name suggests) houses the world's largest chunk of unprocessed gold. Having accommodated highrollers and celebrities for decades before the giant resorts that line the Strip began to appear, these hotels are still maintain their luxurious standards. Unlike their counterparts, however, these hotels do not offer the roller coasters, IMAX theaters and other amusements that attract non-gamblers. Instead, this section of town is still wholly oriented around the roulette wheel and blackjack tables. As a result, it provides a glimpse back to the Vegas of old.
As part of a major renovation strategy designed to help these classic casinos compete with the new giants that keep growing along the Strip, the City of Las Vegas and a federation of casinos have joined together to create "The Fremont Street Experience." The Fremont Street Experience consists of a 90-foot canopy that covers four blocks of Vegas' former main drag.  The canopy holds more than 2 million lights and is supported by posts that house 540,000 watts of high quality sound. Combined, these elements create an audiovisual extravaganza every hour on the hour. Computer generated images syncopate to the music which although powerful is never wholly overwhelming. In addition, the entire four-block area has been blocked off to vehicular traffic and been completely resurfaced. The atmosphere is something between a huge shopping mall and an outdoor disco. Because it is the only one of its kind in the entire world and because it is the brainchild of Vegas developers (the same people who have created pirate ship battles in the middle of the desert), it is no wonder that words fail to describe how bizarrely spectacular it truly is. For anyone making the trip to Vegas, this is a must see. Best of all, it is absolutely free.
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Writer: Tom F.
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Nearby Spots: Vegas Strip - North · Vegas Strip - South · Hoover Dam ···
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