A history of how Las Vegas has celebrated New Year’s Eve

From legion cabarets and whoopee parties to the modern-day spectacle of hundreds of thousands of people on the Strip, New Year’s celebrations in Las Vegas have changed as much as the city has over the decades, newspaper archives show.

Before the big fireworks extravaganzas that dominated downtown Las Vegas and now the resort corridor, the New Year’s Eve parties of the Las Vegas of yesteryear were smaller, cozier, and mirrored the city as it grew.

A hundred years ago, the big to-do in town was the annual cabaret of the American Legion, which drew at least 300 guests, according to a Jan. 6, 1923, edition of the Las Vegas Age, then the main local newspaper.

“Around the central floor space which was reserved for dancing, tables had been arranged which accommodated about 300 guests,” the Age article read.

In 1920, the population of Las Vegas was about 2,300, while Clark County was over 4,800. Nevada’s population was just over 77,400, according to U.S. Census data posted on UNLV’s website.

By 1932, gambling having been legalized in Nevada the year before, the Elks Hall was home to a “frolic” while the El Portal theatre was the place for a “whoopee party,” the newspaper reported.

“Everything is all set for the big carnival dance and frolic to be held in the Elks Hall this Saturday, New Year’s Eve, beginning at 9:00 p.m., under the auspices of the Young People’s Fellowship of Christ Episcopal church,” reads the Dec. 31, 1932, Las Vegas Age.

“El Portal theatre is to stage a whoopee party tonight with all the trimmings,” reads another article in the same newspaper.

By the dawn of the 1950s, Las Vegas was becoming a New Year’s Eve destination. The parties were getting bigger.

“The biggest and noisiest New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas’ history!” blared the front page of the Dec. 31, 1949, Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That’s the prediction of the hotel publicists, the chamber of commerce and transportation officials.”

The article noted that “every hotel room reservation has been filled for weeks and the hotel dining rooms have been sold out for months,” and that there would be a “lavish fireworks display” at midnight on the patio of the Flamingo.

More and more tourists made Las Vegas their New Year’s spot. The Dec. 31, 1954, Review-Journal reported that an estimated 20,000 people were expected, though that wouldn’t be a record as stormy weather hampered travel plans for some.

Three decades later, the Jan. 1, 1982, Review-Journal reported the following: “Clark County residents celebrate a milestone this New Year’s Day. There now are 500,000 of them.

Photos on the Jan. 2, 1982, Review-Journal front page showed a huge crowd of people filling Fremont Street.

“Celebrations of the new year got off to a rousing start Thursday evening when an estimated 12,000 people jammed Fremont Street to watch a fireworks display above the Union Plaza Hotel,” the newspaper reported, adding that the event was shown on national television.

When the century famously ended with the Y2K scare, which proved to have been nothing to be scared about at all, the Review-Journal went big on the front with the headline “Y2Calm.”

By this point, the Strip was the main New Year’s destination, and about 300,000 crowded the boulevard, which was about 50,000 less than the previous year “and nearly half a million less than officials once predicted.

“Predictions of massive traffic gridlock, out-of-control crowds and computer glitches didn’t come true,” the newspaper said.

While some police officers on the Strip marveled at how quiet the scene was at 9 p.m., blaming media hype around Y2K for scaring people away, then-Sheriff Jerry Keller said it was the best New Year’s Eve he’d ever seen.

“The temperature, the crowd, and the coordination between local and federal agencies couldn’t have been better,” Keller said.

When 2003 gave way to 2004, “a night of celebration capped a week of apprehension Wednesday as throngs of people set their fears aside on a peaceful night that included the largest fireworks show in Las Vegas history,” with 65,000 fireworks exploding from atop 10 Strip hotels, the Jan. 1, 2004, Review-Journal reported.

About 300,000 people gathered on the Strip and in downtown even as reports circulated that terrorists might strike Las Vegas. More than 2,500 police officers were out to guard the festivities, but in the end, nothing bad happened. “We’re alive! We’re alive,” one man yelled as the fireworks lit up the sky, where military helicopters had been patrolling.

As the COVID year of 2020 became 2021, with the pandemic still raging, celebrations in Las Vegas were far more quieter. Crowds were sparse. Fireworks on the Strip were canceled, but the Plaza did a fireworks display from its roof.

“It’s finally over!” gushed a woman who identified herself as Foxy Jessica. “It’s finally done.”

In the years since 2020, the crowds and fanfare have returned to Las Vegas’ New Year’s celebration, which is called America’s Party.

This Dec. 31, officials said they are expecting about 400,000 people to gather on the Strip and downtown to usher in 2024 as fireworks explode from nine Strip hotels including for the first time, the newly opened Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

“We know that there’s no better place for New Year’s Eve than here,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a press conference Thursday.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.