Festival coming to downtown for Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend
A music and arts festival is planned in downtown Las Vegas during Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend in November.
The free inaugural Neon City Festival is scheduled for Nov. 22-24 at the Fremont Street Experience.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $1 million sponsorship of the festival. The event is being coordinated with the Formula 1 race to persuade fans in town for the event to visit downtown Las Vegas, which reported that it didn’t see a major economic bump from last year’s race.
It is being produced by downtown Las Vegas resorts and the Fremont Street Experience.
The festival sponsorship doesn’t sit well with a group of nine local businesses that have pleaded with the LVCVA and Clark County officials to compensate them for financial losses they say they suffered as a result of traffic congestion and street closures for the race, which uses resort corridor streets for the race course.
Lisa Mayo-DeRiso issued a release calling attention to the LVCVA board action under a heading that said, “LVCVA admits with $1 million that F1 did not help Downtown. When will they admit it hurt small business?”
The Neon City Festival will include programming across Fremont Street Experience, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, and the surrounding downtown area. It will incorporate “an eclectic mix of A-list musical talent, local vendors, art installations and exhibits, and a variety of food and beverage outlets from famed Las Vegas venues,” according to the LVCVA.
Other event sponsorships
The LVCVA board also agreed to spend $9.7 million on convention and sports-related events, some over multiple years.
– $372,000 for the LVCVA’s exhibition floor space license for the IMEX America Oct. 8-10 at Mandalay Bay and $528,000 for Conex Exhibition Services to build the booth for the IMEX show.
– $292,487 for Pure Creative Solutions for the LVCVA’s exhibition booth for the American Society of Association Executives in Cleveland Aug. 10-12 and IEE 2024 Expo! Expo! in Los Angeles Dec. 17-19.
– $3.9 million for a three-year agreement for international tourism promotion services through AVIAREPS Mexico, starting in July.
– $1.6 million to host the NBA Cup in-season basketball tournament in December at T-Mobile Arena.
– $2.6 million to sponsor the National Rugby League for four years at Allegiant Stadium in March 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028.
– $525,000 to sponsor the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame awards dinner in December 2024 through 2026.
The board also approved spending $2.2 million to upgrade the Las Vegas Convention Center’s fire alarm and emergency radio communications systems.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.