‘Storm Area 51’ creator to host downtown Las Vegas Area 51 party

The Bud Light Area 51 Celebration occurring Sept. 19 at the Derek Stevens-owned Downtown Las Vegas Events Center will now feature Matty Roberts, the man who made the Facebook hoax that drew the interest of millions, as its host.

“I’ll be here myself, so if people want to come up and meet me they’re welcome,” said Roberts, who is slated to sign autographs at the event. “I’ll sign anything they want. It’s going to be exciting.”

Roberts also will be selling his own “Storm Area 51” merchandise.

The event will be at the 15,000-person capacity events center downtown, which hosts dozens of events annually, including festivals and Raiders and Golden Knights watch parties.

The event is scheduled to feature “legit touring” electronic dance music artists, but information is being kept a surprise at this point, according to Bud Pico, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center general manager. The group Collective Zoo, which hosts several EDM events in Las Vegas each year, is behind the musical acts.

“It’s very typical of a Collective Zoo lineup,” Pico said. “They always do really well for us.”

Despite disassociating the event from the “Storm Area 51” movement, the celebration will still feature an extraterrestrial theme.

There will be a 40-foot UFO with flashing lights, and the events center pool will have green lights in it to enhance the extraterrestrial mood.

“We just want to have a good time,” Pico said. “We’re just going to have fun with some aliens and not worry about storming anything.”

The event is free of charge to anyone 21 years or older, but the pool is a VIP area open only to invited guests. Those interested in attending are recommended to RSVP on the Collective Zoo site.

Roberts said he was excited about moving his affiliation from the alien-themed events taking place next week in remote Rachel to one in downtown Las Vegas.

“To move the event to downtown Las Vegas where there’s infrastructure in place … that’s fantastic,” Roberts said. “And the pool; you need that.”

The event serves as an unofficial pre-party for a busy weekend in Las Vegas, with Life is Beautiful taking place just a few blocks away Sept. 20-22 and the iHeartRadio Music Festival taking place at Sept 20-21 at T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s a big weekend in Las Vegas,” Pico said. “You throw this on top of it, and it makes things even crazier.”

After seeing the layout of the event and some of the plans involved with it, Roberts can’t believe the Facebook hoax he made has turned into something so big.

“I did something’s that cool; the internet loves me,” he said of his initial reaction. “Now the entire world knows about this. It went from being a meme on my page to a cultural movement in and of itself. That is completely surreal to me to think I started that and now we’re here in Las Vegas, doing something incredible.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.