Las Vegas Festival Grounds

Las Vegas Festival Grounds
Former names MGM Resorts Festival Grounds (2015)
Address 311 W Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Location Winchester, Nevada
Owner MGM Resorts International
Capacity 85,000
Acreage 26 acres (11 ha)
Construction
Broke ground September 2014
Opened May 9, 2015 (2015-05-09)
Construction cost $20 million
General contractor Martin-Harris Construction[1]
Website
Venue Website

The Las Vegas Festival Grounds is an open-air venue on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. The venue is located at the north end of the Strip, north of Circus Circus Las Vegas. It is 26 acres (11 ha) and has a capacity of 85,000 people.[2]

History

From 1941 to the 1970s, the El Rancho Vegas occupied most of the land. In 2007, MGM Mirage (later MGM Resorts International) purchased the 26-acre (11 ha) El Rancho site from Gordon Gaming for $444 million.[3]

In 2014, MGM announced plans to develop the site as an outdoor music venue in partnership with Cirque du Soleil and Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies.[4] The project was primarily designed to serve as the site of Rock in Rio USA, a new biennial music festival. The venue was initially referred to as the City of Rock, named after its equivalent in Rio de Janeiro, the site of the original Brazilian version of the Rock in Rio festival. The name was soon changed to the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds.[5] MGM hoped to position the grounds as a site for festivals, concerts, and sporting events (such as boxing, mixed martial arts, and soccer) as a compliment to its other venues in the area.[6][7]

The festival grounds made its debut in May 2015 with the first (and last) Rock in Rio USA festival.[8] Development costs for the site totaled $20 million.[8]

In October 2015, the MGM Resorts branding was dropped and the site was renamed to simply Las Vegas Festival Grounds. The renaming was part of an effort to downplay MGM's role in the venue to improve its marketability for third-party events, and to brand the site as being part of Las Vegas's "community".[9]

Events

The Rock in Rio USA music festival was held at the venue in May 2015, headlined by No Doubt, Metallica, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars. The festival was intended to recur every two years, but after disappointing ticket sales, plans for future editions of the event evaporated.[10]

In April 2016, the Las Vegas Festival Grounds hosted the ACM Party For a Cause Festival on the weekend preceding the Academy of Country Music Awards.[11][12]

On September 22, 2018, the venue will host the Daytime Stage, which is part of the iHeartRadio Music Festival.[13] In previous years, the Daytime Stage was hosted at the Las Vegas Village, which was the same venue that was used for the Route 91 Harvest festival.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Coordinated Plans Drives Strip Festival Grounds". Martin-Harris Construction. March 2015. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Las Vegas Festival Grounds". MGM Resorts International. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  3. ↑ Howard Stutz (April 19, 2007). "MGM buys parcels for new center". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  4. ↑ Jason Bracelin (April 22, 2014). "Rock in Rio plans permanent venue on Las Vegas Strip". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  5. ↑ John Katsilometes (September 27, 2014). "As mass gatherings go, Las Vegas is the place to be". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  6. ↑ "MGM Resorts, Cirque to build 33-acre, open-air venue to host Rock in Rio in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rock In Rio USA Teams With MGM, Cirque & Yucaipa Ahead of 2015 Debut". Billboard.biz. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 Mike Weatherford (May 16, 2015). "Rock in Rio leaves town, but turf will get more footwear". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  9. ↑ "No MGM Resorts: It's now Las Vegas Village and Las Vegas Festival Grounds". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  10. ↑ John Katsilometes (November 7, 2016). "MGM Resorts: No return of Rock in Rio to the Strip". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  11. ↑ "Strip Scribbles: ACM lineup expands, Super Bowl 50 chefs, Fetish & Fantasy Ball". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Country music awards to return to Vegas with 3-day festival". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Daytime Stage At The 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival FAQ". iHeartRadio. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  14. ↑ John Katsilometes (May 1, 2018). "iHeartRadio ready to return outdoor festivals to the Strip". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

Coordinates: 36°08′33″N 115°09′37″W / 36.1424°N 115.1603°W / 36.1424; -115.1603


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