New Year’s blast on the Strip: 80K fireworks in 8 minutes, 1 second

More than 80,000 fireworks will light up the Strip at midnight on New Year’s Day 2017, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has announced.

The grandiose show will last 8 minutes, 1 second and feature musical tributes to David Bowie; Prince; and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The theme is “Vegas Rocks.”

Las Vegas Boulevard will close to traffic around 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve so revelers can watch the pyrotechnics be launched from the rooftops of seven Strip resorts. The authority expects some 330,000 visitors to be in the Las Vegas Valley throughout the holiday weekend.

The action will begin 10 seconds before midnight as fireworks rocket up from the Stratosphere tower. Pyrotechnics will also be launched from Aria, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood Resort, Treasure Island and The Venetian.

For the 10th year in a row, Fireworks by Grucci will coordinate the dazzling display. Las Vegas Events is co-producing the show.

“Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas is one of our favorite traditions,” said Phil Grucci, Fireworks by Grucci’s CEO and creative director. “Seeing the Las Vegas Strip free of traffic and full of thousands of partygoers creates such an incredible energy as we welcome in the new year.”

The company has also created a free smartphone app that will synchronize a custom music score to the fireworks. The app is available for both iPhone and Android devices through a search for “Fireworks by Grucci.”

The soundtrack will start with the classic “Auld Lang Syne” — be sure to snag a New Year’s Day smooch at midnight — and conclude with Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” during the show’s grand finale. Prince died April 21.

Other artists featured include Lionel Richie; Celine Dion; Earth, Wind and Fire; and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, which had two members die in 2016: Keith Emerson (March 11) and Greg Lake (Dec. 7).

A remix of “Let’s Dance” by Bowie, who died Jan. 10, will also be included.

The fireworks’ cost comes in at about $500,000, according to the authority, which is footing the bill. That’s $100,000 less than the cost of last year’s extravaganza.

Fireworks and live entertainment also will celebrate the new year’s arrival at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.

America’s Party Downtown begins at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and ends at 3:30 a.m. the next day. Admission is $35 until Dec. 26, when tickets will be $40, and can be purchased online at http://vegasexperience.com/nye.

“Las Vegas is the only place to ring in 2017,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. “We have an amazing new show on the Viva Vision canopy featuring Green Day at the Fremont Street Experience and great live music.”

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477- 3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.