How many Las Vegas welcomes 2025 with entertainment, fireworks

It’s a tradition that never gets old.

In the final seconds before a new year, hundreds of thousands of visitors on the Las Vegas Strip joined the countdown. They screamed in unison, “10, nine, eight ...” until 2025 arrived.

Visitors exchanged hugs and kisses as the clock hit midnight, shouting “Happy New Year” and blowing on horns in celebration as the fireworks erupted into the Las Vegas Strip skyline in a dramatic show.

Partygoers flashed big smiles and snapped plenty of photos — all while staying warm as light winds made a brisk Las Vegas night seem slightly cooler.

“America’s Party” was televised nationally to show that nobody hosts a party like Las Vegas. The party will require some heavy cleaning.

Metro Police immediately started escorting pedestrians off the Strip once the fireworks ended. Officials project roads — including Interstate 15 exits at Tropicana Avenue, Flamingo and Spring Mountain roads — will be reopened by 6 a.m. 

First, an estimated 20 street sweepers and 60 workers will collect 10 to 12 tons of trash.

Metro dispatched more than 1,000 officers to the Strip and downtown. They didn’t report any major incidents during the celebration. They expect to release incident and arrest tallies — including for offenses such as DUI ­— later today.

We had reporters stationed throughout the city. Here are some of their observations:

Family excited for first Las Vegas trip

Vlad carried his five year old daughter Xenia on his shoulders, smiling as the young girl happily swayed while watching the Bellagio fountain show. 

The family, who came all the way from Winnipeg, Manitoba, were looking for the best place to watch fireworks ahead of the countdown. Vlad, who preferred not to use his last name because he was accompanied by minors, was joined by his wife Kristin; Claire and Katya, their two teenage daughters; and an unnamed 16-year-old son. 

They’d been searching for the best place to watch all night and planted themselves in front of the Bellagio in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard about 30 minutes before midnight. 

“We wanted to get out of the hotel, have a good time; see the lights and see people,” said Kristin of their trip to the Strip. 

Vlad was in town for a conference starting on Jan. 2, so his family decided to arrive a few days early to ring in 2025 with the thousands of other tourists that visit annually for the New Year’s Eve festivities. 

Claire, 17, lit up with excitement thinking about the eight-minute fireworks show set to pop off at midnight. It was her and 15-year-old Katya’s first time on the Strip ever and second time in Las Vegas. 

Minutes later, the girls danced to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” with their phones out, filming the next fountain show and already planning the photos they’d be posting on social media. 

Claire will be graduating high school in 2025, so there was lots for them to look forward to. 

“It's kind of scary, but yeah, I’m excited,” said Claire of the new year. 

3OH!3 gets the crowd dancing

Singing to a crowd of party goers dancing and waving their hands, a member of the musical duo 3OH!3 joked, “let’s ring in 2010.”

As the Colorado-based duo performed their nostalgic hits from the previous decade, it was another quintessential moment where music defined the night for many attendees.

A few steps away, best friends Bianca Araiza and Jocelyn Zotto were locked into a private performance, listening to music through headphones at the silent disco section. The two were in matching pink dresses and fuzzy headbands because they said they "love being the main character.”

Zotto and Araiza said they don’t care what people think, but that it’s important to dress well and express themselves. 

Zotto has lived in Vegas for about three years, but Araiza came to celebrate from Denver — making the trip to the city to celebrate with her friend.

The two said they were looking forward to Flo Rida’s performance, and added that a Vegas New Year’s Eve celebration is particularly special because of all it offers, like their first time experiencing a silent disco.

“It’s like a party everywhere,” Zotto said. “There’s multiple things to do.”  

The celebration was a new experience for Brittany Joness as well, a Las Vegas resident who had never been to Fremont before.

“I don’t get out much,” Joness said. “I have two daughters, they are 11 and 14. So, every year, I always ring it in with them, and I never rung it in doing something like this.”

Party has begun

New Year’s Eve celebrations have officially begun on the Las Vegas Strip. 

Las Vegas Boulevard opened to the public for the annual tradition about 7:30 p.m., and groups of pedestrians made their way into the street even despite the cold weather. 

Officials closed roads to vehicular traffic around 7 p.m.

It’s a spectacle on the Strip hours ahead of the highly anticipated fireworks show at midnight. Artists like Bruno Mars and Imagine Dragons are performing at hotels along the boulevard, and street performers have set themselves up in prime positions to sing the night away or play a tune on their instruments. 

A new feature this year is the Sphere, which has been displaying a countdown to midnight since early Dec. 31 in conjunction with other major cities around the world.

The Sphere has become a countdown partner for “America’s Party 2025,” where an eight-minute fireworks show will fill the air on the Strip starting at midnight to ring in a new year in one of the notable celebrations across the globe.

“It is a height. It is a spotlight on Las Vegas as a global city, a spotlight on our fans across the globe,” Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said on Dec. 18 at a press event. “We’re really excited that the Sphere is going to be a part of this and allow us to celebrate New Year’s Eve everywhere this year.”

Metro Police report that the Spring Mountain Road and I-15 area is sluggish with the closure of Las Vegas Boulevard in place. Frank Sinatra Drive is also experiencing heavy traffic from Harmon to Sammy Davis Jr. Drive.

Fremont Street CEO remarks on comeback from pandemic

Fremont Street has come a long way since Andrew Simon became CEO in 2020. It was right in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and he said the new year’s celebration shows how far the country has come since then.

“Everybody was scared to be around each other,” Simon recalled. “And tonight, I think you’ll see everybody having a great time dancing.”

While he has been in his role for a little over four years, he’s lived in Las Vegas since 1992 and seen Freemont change rapidly since then. And some of that change comes with who will participate in the countdown this year.

“What’s really special, this is the first time in 25 years we don’t have Mayor Goodman — whether it’s Mayor Oscar or Mayor Carolyn,” Simon said. “We have a brand new mayor counting down the new year’s eve with me and Flo Rida at midnight, Mayor Shelly Berkley.” 

Simon said the musical performers, including Flo Rida, Bow Wow and 3OH!3 were part of what made the celebration special, he said. 

“We take a look at all the different artists and the genres out there, because we want everybody to be able to come down to Fremont,” Simon added. 

After executing the three-day Neon Festival in November, Simon said he and his team felt relaxed about tonight.

“We’re not really all that stressed,” Simon said. “My big thing is wanting people to have a good time and making sure it’s safe and that everybody gets home safe.”