25 biggest events at Bellagio for resort’s 25th anniversary

When you say the name, it immediately evokes a vision of Las Vegas luxury.

The stately 3,933-room Strip resort turns 25 on Sunday.

It seems like only yesterday that Las Vegas turned out on a chilly and breezy Thursday evening to see Steve Wynn’s latest lodging masterpiece with a massive casino — one of the city’s five largest — a seasonally changing conservatory displaying the city’s best floral displays, arguably Southern Nevada’s most impressive art gallery, award winning restaurants and, of course, the fountains.

The fountains at Bellagio have their own iconic status and are one of the most Instagramed Las Vegas attractions.

From the opening night when breezes pushed fountain spray onto some of the crowds of onlookers to today when the resort is preparing for what could be the city’s most successful special event in the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, Bellagio has seen its share of big moments.

Wynn, who built the resort for, at the time, an outrageous $1.6 billion, is long gone. The resort technically is owned today by the Blackstone Group, a real estate investment trust, but it’s managed by MGM Resorts International as one of its top brands.

Over the years, Bellagio has seen many big moments. Here are 25 of them:

■ Oct. 15, 1998. Bellagio opens. A star-studded event with the debut of the fountains and an epic fireworks display.

■ May 30, 2000. Mirage Resorts, owner of Bellagio, is purchased by what was then MGM Grand Inc.

■ Sept. 25, 2001. The release of Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Its first performance on the fountains was presented at the Billboard Music Awards.

■ Dec. 5, 2001. “Ocean’s 11” is released. Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and a long list of stars, the movie remake was a defining moment for Bellagio. The final shot of “Ocean’s 11” overlooking the fountains was the first of many incredible moments in pop culture to feature Bellagio.

■ 2001. Bellagio became the first casino resort to receive AAA’s Five Diamonds award.

■ May 2003. The World Poker Tour, a series of international and domestic poker tournaments, premiered at Bellagio with the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. The tournament aired on Travel Channel, creating a new television series for poker fans interested in watching the game’s best players compete monthly for prize pools of more than $1 million. The popularity of the show had a major impact on poker’s growth over the ensuing 20 years, cementing Bellagio’s reputation among players worldwide as the industry’s top poker room.

■ November 2003. Le Cirque and Picasso receive AAA Five Diamond awards. Bellagio remains the only hotel with two Five Diamond restaurants under one roof.

■ 2004. Victoria’s Secret turns the fountains pink. It was the only time the fountains’ colors have been changed.

■ December 2004. The Spa Tower is added. It added a new restaurant, expanded the resort’s award-winning Spa & Salon, expanded convention facilities and added a 30,000-square-foot ballroom with 928 more rooms and suites.

■ September 2008. Patisserie Chocolate Fountain earns a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest chocolate fountain.

■ Aug. 5, 2010. Cirque du Soleil marks the 10 millionth guest at “O,” celebrating the success of the resort’s signature show. It occurred at the show’s 5,626th performance.

■ August 2015. “Shochiku,” a kabuki show at the Fountains of Bellagio, debuts. The multimedia kabuki performance “Koi Tsukami (Fight With a Carp),” incorporated high-tech digital projection on the fountains during five free 30-minute performances.

■ Nov. 18, 2016. Bruno Mars’ “24k Magic,” a music video, is released. It was shot in a Bellagio villa and concluded with the performer riding a jet ski around the fountains.

■ July 11, 2016. “Jason Bourne,” a film starring Matt Damon, is released. The movie included a car chase and crash with Bellagio’s fountains in the background.

■ May 21, 2017. Drake performed “Gyalchester” at the Billboard Music Awards, featuring pyrotechnic effects at the fountains for the first time.

■ June 2018. Wolfgang Puck’s Spago opened its doors, joining Bellagio’s portfolio of restaurants overlooking the fountains, quickly becoming one of the hardest tables to book. Jennifer Lopez selected Spago for the release party of her album “Dinero.”

■ April 4, 2019. A limited engagement of a fountain show dedicated to “Game of Thrones” debuts. Composer Ramin Djawadi teamed with fountain contractor Wet to create a show with water, fire and music.

■ May 2019. James Corden and Celine Dion featured the fountains in “Carpool Karaoke” in a performance of “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic.”

■ Dec. 31, 2019. The Mayfair Supper Club opens, bringing a new dining experience to Bellagio.

■ Oct. 5, 2020. Jamie Foxx, using the fountains as a backdrop, launches BetMGM and MGM Resorts’ marketing campaign around “The King of Sportsbooks.”

■ October 2021. MGM Resorts auctions 11 Picasso paintings from the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art to diversify its art offerings.

■ February 2022. For the first time, the NHL hosts its All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena, and the league crafted its Skills Challenges competition on and around the fountains.

■ April 2022. South Korean performers BTS, in Las Vegas for four shows at Allegiant Stadium, launched a fountain show at Bellagio.

■ April 2022. Over three days, the NFL hosted the its draft in Las Vegas, and the Bellagio fountains had a prominent position as the league built a stage over them and had red-carpet introductions of drafted players there.

■ June 2022. Imagine Dragons, a Las Vegas band, used the Bellagio as a backdrop for a new music video, “Sharks,” featuring Dan Reynolds surfing on the fountains while “sharks” circled around.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.