The Freemont Street Experience (FSE)
I can't believe it has been over 15 years since they completed this one of a kind "experience" for visitors to downtown Las Vegas. Originally coming in at over $70 million, this is much more than just a covered light show. 5 blocks of entertainment with the neon from the hotels and the shows that take place every hour after dusk. Free concerts take place every weekend during the summer months and so much more. Check out www.vergasexperience.com for all the details. Below is some info from the web about FSE.
The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a an attraction in downtown Las Vegas. The "FSE" occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch," and portions of some other adjacent streets.
The attraction is a $70 million barrel vault canopy, 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length.
While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy. Before each show, one bidirectional street that crosses the Experience is blocked off for safety reasons.
Concerts, usually free, are also held on two sound stages. The venue has become a major tourist attraction for downtown Las Vegas, and is also the location of the Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience and the city's annual New Year's Eve party, complete with fireworks on the display screen.
Viva Vision The LED display "canopy", runs along the Fremont Street Experience promenade from Main Street to Fourth Street. Holding the canopy aloft are 16 columns, each weighing 26,000 pounds and can hold up 400,000 pounds, and 43,000 struts.
A section comprising one fiftieth of the total canopy equals the size of the world’s current largest electric sign. Originally, nearly 2.1 million incandescent lights were housed in the canopy. With the completion of the $17 million upgrade, more than 12 million LED lamps illuminate the overhead canopy. The new LED upgrade was designed and engineered by LG Electronics, who is also the primary corporate sponsor of the canopy. Within the canopy itself are 220 speakers powered by 550,000 watts of amplification.
Light and sound shows Light & Sound Shows are presented nightly beginning at dusk. The number of nightly shows was increased during the 2004 upgrade. Some of the most popular shows include the "Lucky Vegas" show which pays tribute to some of the most well known Vegas icons. "Smoke, Speed and Spinning Wheels" gives visitors an inside look at the sport of race car driving. "Area 51" is a show that pits humans against a swarm of alien invaders. "American Freedom" serves as tribute to the United States while "The Drop" takes visitors on a journey that begins with one drop of water.
Glittering lights. Stunning visual and sound effects. Crowds of people.
Just another night on the Las Vegas Strip, right? Wrong.
Welcome to the Fremont Street Experience located in fabulous Downtown Las Vegas.
This project blends vintage Las Vegas with high tech wonderment, live entertainment and more to create an attraction that rivals the famed Vegas Strip.
Now more people than ever are flocking to this area. In 2006, the experience had 19 million visitors.
“Visitors come to Fremont Street Experience for multiple reasons,” said Jeff Victor, president of the Fremont Street Experience. “We offer free live entertainment, an intimate party atmosphere with a laid back feel and a group of great casinos in close proximity to one another.”
Lighting up the Vegas skies
The most obvious and largest part of the Fremont Street Experience is the Viva Vision canopy and light show. The canopy towers 90 feet above the ground and spans the length of five football fields. Featuring more than 12 million LED modules and 555,000-watt sound system, the light show attracts tourists and locals alike.
The first light show was broadcast in 1995. Nearly a decade later in 2004, $17 million was invested in upgrading the Viva Vision canopy. Significant improvements were made and now it has 10 times higher resolution, resulting in clearer, sharper pictures. It can also display 16.7 million color combinations. The display is so sharp, live video can be broadcast on what is the world's largest screen.
Viva Vision features shows like “Ophelia's Dream," which takes spectators through Ophelia's fast-paced fantastical dream world with new adventures, ice mountains and mystery; "Bad to the Bone," a wild motorcycle ride with the bad boys of rock; and "Don McLean's American Pie," celebrating one of the most well-known anthems in American musical history.
During "A Tribute to Queen," visitors can listen to "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" while admiring the stunning graphics above. Fans of KISS can also catch the show, "KISS Over Vegas." During this tribute to the legendary foursome, visitors can rock to hits like "Lick it Up," "Shout it out Loud" and "Rock 'n' Roll All Night."
Inside the Fremont Street Experience building, a master control room delivers all the magic to the Viva Vision light show. Technicians have only three minutes to load the show on the big screen. They are assisted by eight high-tech computers that intertwine the light, visual and audio systems.
Cameras are mounted on the actual Viva Vision screen and transmit a live video feed to a row of LCD screens inside the control room so technicians can monitor the show.
New Viva Vision shows are created each year and are rotated in and out. The Experience can choose from a library of about 15 shows at any given time.
More than just a light show
While the Viva Vision canopy is an amazing wonder, the Fremont Street Experience is more than just choreographed lights and sounds.
Each year the Experience hosts a number of special events including Race Jam during the NASCAR weekend, the annual Downtown Hoedown during NFR and Las Vegas Bike Fest in September. Live bands perform outside nightly.
“We are constantly creating events and experiences here for both locals and tourists,” said Victor.
Shops on the Fremont Street Experience walk include a spray paint artist creating masterpieces in minutes as well as kiosks selling souvenir items like engraved rice grain jewelry, unique T-shirts, hats and much more.
Visitors can also experience Fremont East, located between Las Vegas Blvd. and Eighth St. Emphasizing the glamour of vintage Las Vegas, Fremont East includes wider sidewalks, more pedestrian-friendly streets, landscaping, lighted gateways as well as four 40-foot-tall neon signs. Located in the heart of downtown, Fremont East sits adjacent to the Experience.
From the free live entertainment and little shops to the spectacular Viva Vision light show, there is something for everyone.
“The Fremont Street Experience and the surrounding casinos offer a very different feel than the Strip,” Victor said. “Guests often use the word ‘real’ when they talk about this environment. The energy of the group is really great. They bring big smiles, curious eyes and lots of laughter.”
-- Review by Jeannie Borbe, from vegas.com
The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a an attraction in downtown Las Vegas. The "FSE" occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch," and portions of some other adjacent streets.
The attraction is a $70 million barrel vault canopy, 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length.
While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy. Before each show, one bidirectional street that crosses the Experience is blocked off for safety reasons.
Concerts, usually free, are also held on two sound stages. The venue has become a major tourist attraction for downtown Las Vegas, and is also the location of the Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience and the city's annual New Year's Eve party, complete with fireworks on the display screen.
Viva Vision The LED display "canopy", runs along the Fremont Street Experience promenade from Main Street to Fourth Street. Holding the canopy aloft are 16 columns, each weighing 26,000 pounds and can hold up 400,000 pounds, and 43,000 struts.
A section comprising one fiftieth of the total canopy equals the size of the world’s current largest electric sign. Originally, nearly 2.1 million incandescent lights were housed in the canopy. With the completion of the $17 million upgrade, more than 12 million LED lamps illuminate the overhead canopy. The new LED upgrade was designed and engineered by LG Electronics, who is also the primary corporate sponsor of the canopy. Within the canopy itself are 220 speakers powered by 550,000 watts of amplification.
Light and sound shows Light & Sound Shows are presented nightly beginning at dusk. The number of nightly shows was increased during the 2004 upgrade. Some of the most popular shows include the "Lucky Vegas" show which pays tribute to some of the most well known Vegas icons. "Smoke, Speed and Spinning Wheels" gives visitors an inside look at the sport of race car driving. "Area 51" is a show that pits humans against a swarm of alien invaders. "American Freedom" serves as tribute to the United States while "The Drop" takes visitors on a journey that begins with one drop of water.
Glittering lights. Stunning visual and sound effects. Crowds of people.
Just another night on the Las Vegas Strip, right? Wrong.
Welcome to the Fremont Street Experience located in fabulous Downtown Las Vegas.
This project blends vintage Las Vegas with high tech wonderment, live entertainment and more to create an attraction that rivals the famed Vegas Strip.
Now more people than ever are flocking to this area. In 2006, the experience had 19 million visitors.
“Visitors come to Fremont Street Experience for multiple reasons,” said Jeff Victor, president of the Fremont Street Experience. “We offer free live entertainment, an intimate party atmosphere with a laid back feel and a group of great casinos in close proximity to one another.”
Lighting up the Vegas skies
The most obvious and largest part of the Fremont Street Experience is the Viva Vision canopy and light show. The canopy towers 90 feet above the ground and spans the length of five football fields. Featuring more than 12 million LED modules and 555,000-watt sound system, the light show attracts tourists and locals alike.
The first light show was broadcast in 1995. Nearly a decade later in 2004, $17 million was invested in upgrading the Viva Vision canopy. Significant improvements were made and now it has 10 times higher resolution, resulting in clearer, sharper pictures. It can also display 16.7 million color combinations. The display is so sharp, live video can be broadcast on what is the world's largest screen.
Viva Vision features shows like “Ophelia's Dream," which takes spectators through Ophelia's fast-paced fantastical dream world with new adventures, ice mountains and mystery; "Bad to the Bone," a wild motorcycle ride with the bad boys of rock; and "Don McLean's American Pie," celebrating one of the most well-known anthems in American musical history.
During "A Tribute to Queen," visitors can listen to "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" while admiring the stunning graphics above. Fans of KISS can also catch the show, "KISS Over Vegas." During this tribute to the legendary foursome, visitors can rock to hits like "Lick it Up," "Shout it out Loud" and "Rock 'n' Roll All Night."
Inside the Fremont Street Experience building, a master control room delivers all the magic to the Viva Vision light show. Technicians have only three minutes to load the show on the big screen. They are assisted by eight high-tech computers that intertwine the light, visual and audio systems.
Cameras are mounted on the actual Viva Vision screen and transmit a live video feed to a row of LCD screens inside the control room so technicians can monitor the show.
New Viva Vision shows are created each year and are rotated in and out. The Experience can choose from a library of about 15 shows at any given time.
More than just a light show
While the Viva Vision canopy is an amazing wonder, the Fremont Street Experience is more than just choreographed lights and sounds.
Each year the Experience hosts a number of special events including Race Jam during the NASCAR weekend, the annual Downtown Hoedown during NFR and Las Vegas Bike Fest in September. Live bands perform outside nightly.
“We are constantly creating events and experiences here for both locals and tourists,” said Victor.
Shops on the Fremont Street Experience walk include a spray paint artist creating masterpieces in minutes as well as kiosks selling souvenir items like engraved rice grain jewelry, unique T-shirts, hats and much more.
Visitors can also experience Fremont East, located between Las Vegas Blvd. and Eighth St. Emphasizing the glamour of vintage Las Vegas, Fremont East includes wider sidewalks, more pedestrian-friendly streets, landscaping, lighted gateways as well as four 40-foot-tall neon signs. Located in the heart of downtown, Fremont East sits adjacent to the Experience.
From the free live entertainment and little shops to the spectacular Viva Vision light show, there is something for everyone.
“The Fremont Street Experience and the surrounding casinos offer a very different feel than the Strip,” Victor said. “Guests often use the word ‘real’ when they talk about this environment. The energy of the group is really great. They bring big smiles, curious eyes and lots of laughter.”
-- Review by Jeannie Borbe, from vegas.com