America’s Party 2025: Details shared for New Year’s Eve show on Strip

Christmas lights are on all over Las Vegas but the Strip is preparing for a brighter show on New Year’s Eve.

Vegas officials estimate there will be 340,000 guests coming to the destination for New Year’s Eve, they said during Wednesday’s press conference held at the center of a busy Fashion Show mall, where shoppers and Strip tourists stopped to take pictures of the showgirls and indoor firework display at the end of the event.

New to the Strip’s annual fireworks showcase, America’s Party 2025, will be additional countdowns on the exterior of the Sphere. Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said the addition gives a unique countdown for the show – and for every other time zone, starting at 5 a.m. with Sydney, Australia’s countdown to the new year.

“It is a real asset for Las Vegas,” Hill said. “Integrating them into the fireworks show, just for the Vegas part, expands the visual, expands the experience. But then to be able to include it throughout the day is great marketing for Las Vegas, and in a way that people immediately recognize who we are and where that is.”

The 8-minute show, co-produced by Fireworks by Grucci, will be launched from nine rooftop locations. Those locations include (from the south, heading north):

— MGM Grand

— Aria

— Planet Hollywood

— Caesars Palace

— Treasure Island

— The Venetian

— Resorts World

— Fontainebleau

— The Strat

The show’s theme is “Making Vegas Memories” and will be set to music from Icona Pop, Black-Eyed Peas, ZZ Top and others. The accompanying songs will be broadcast on KOMP 92.3 or 97.1 The Point.

Rio will serve as the Dec. 31 show’s command center. Show producer Scott Cooper said it’ll take five days and over 3,795 man hours to install more than 12,000 electrical circuits and thousands more fireworks. Some features include rainbow fan comets, brilliant lights mimicking Las Vegas, and pattern-shaped shells that can create octopuses, mushrooms and smiley faces.

“It’s a Herculean effort to get all that fireworks and equipment to the rooftops,” Cooper, Fireworks by Grucci’s director of business development, said.

Downtown partners also promoted their holiday festivities. Andrew Simon, president of the Fremont Street Experience, said the street will turn into a New Year’s Eve party. A $50 ticket gives access to the pedestrian mall and seven live acts, including headliner Flo Rida. A midnight fireworks show will also go off at the Plaza hotel-casino.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.