Music, art and food will converge in Downtown Las Vegas the weekend of November 22 - 24, at the Neon City Festival—the largest free event Downtown has ever seen.

Neon City Festival was created by casino owner Derek Stevens along with a collection of Downtown resorts and will take place in and around the Fremont Street Experience and nearby Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. Downtown hotels are offering all sorts of special perks to festivalgoers. Among the 35 bands performing on four Downtown stages: TroyBoi, Alison Wonderland, Neon Trees, The All-American Rejects, Lit and Filter.

The festival, with its unprecedented number of free events and concerts, has been a year in the making, Stevens says. “The initial concept was to find some events for that weekend before Thanksgiving,” he says, noting that of the 46 million annual visitors to Las Vegas, 24 million people visit Downtown. Neon City Festival was planned not only to give visitors a major, free concert experience, but also to showcase why so many locals shop, dine and socialize in Downtown Las Vegas. 

Aside from all the concerts, Downtown will be packed with art installations, exhibitions, and food tucks. The team at AREA 15 will curate art installations by Vegas-based artists Aliume, Illuminarium, Henry Chang and others, while artists like Recycled Propaganda and Tristan Shearer will operate pop-up shops and booths alongside local fashion and jewelry designers. On-site food offerings will include top local food trucks, outposts of casino restaurants such as Joel’s Chophouse and Chi Asian Kitchen, and an all-you-can-eat tasting experience by Omaha Steaks.

“This particular weekend in Las Vegas is set to be exceptionally busy, so we wanted to create a major event that appeals to a variety of ages and demographics,” says Neon City CEO Jeff Victor.

The bands are scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 5 p.m. on Sunday, with headliners taking their stages between 10 and 11:30 p.m. The Vendor Village will open at 1 p.m. each day, and the Downtown Grand will host a Neon Tailgate starting at noon on Saturday and Sunday.

Of course, part of the point of the Neon City Festival is to introduce you to, well, the neon city. Here are a few other must-dos while you’re here.

Check out Downtown’s best view, dine in a bacon-first restaurant, see a pile of gold bars

Fremont Street Experience

The portion of Fremont Street that sits under the Viva Vision canopy will be central to the festival, with some of Neon City’s most exciting attractions right out on the street. But area casinos also offer amazing experiences in every price range.

For fine dining, Barry’s Downtown Prime in Circa Resort and Casino is arguably the neighborhood’s most elegant restaurant, and a favorite spot of many celebrities and athletes. You can check out the best view of Downtown (and about $2.6 million in gold bars) at Circa’s rooftop cocktail lounge, Legacy Club. Hugo’s Cellar in the Four Queens Hotel & Casino has been a date-night favorite since the 1970s, thanks to its dark atmosphere, tableside preparations and practice of presenting every lady with a rose.

On the casual side, the second floor of the D Las Vegas has a pair of unique attractions: the hockey-themed Bar Canada, and the bacon-obsessed Bacon Nation. And Fremont Street is just a short walk from the award-winning Pizza Rock on 3rd and Ogden.

Drink in a laundry room speakeasy, attend a smashburger pop-up, revisit the Atomic Age

Fremont East Entertainment District 

Between Las Vegas Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, is home to some of Downtown’s most exciting bars and clubs, with DJs at Discopussy, live bands at Backstage Bar & Billiards, craft cocktails at the Laundry Room speakeasy, and Las Vegas’ oldest dive bar, Atomic Liquors (where folks would watch atomic blasts from the rooftop in the 1940s). For a bite on Fremont East, check out Le Thai or the Evel Knievel-themed pizzeria Evel Pie.

A block over, Carson Avenue is quickly becoming Downtown’s Restaurant Row. The best breakfasts and lunches can be had at home-grown mom-and-pop spots like 7th & Carson or Eat, or the more bustling Broken Yolk on the ground floor of the historic Post Office building. For evening bites, try 7th & Carson, Carson Kitchen or the smashburger pop-ups held every Thursday through Saturday night at The Parlour.

Take a beer crawl, dive into award-winning barbecue, enjoy indie pop/electronica

The Arts District

The bustling Arts District neighborhood, a mile south of the festival site, will host several Neon City performances, including indie pop band Mystery Skulls, in the neighborhood’s newest venue, Swan Dive.

Some of the area’s best bites can be found at Barbecue Brawl finalist Bruce Kalman’s Soulbelly BBQ, the eclectic and welcoming Main St. Provisions, Wolfgang Puck’s 1228 Main, Good Pie pizzeria (try the grandma-style) and the Italian restaurant that put the neighborhood on the map, Esther’s Kitchen. The Arts District is also home to excellent coffee shops, including Vesta Coffee Roasters and Makers & Finders.

Beer lovers will appreciate the District’s many breweries, tap rooms and bottle shops (read about them here), while Velveteen Rabit and Liquid Diet have tremendous cocktail programs. And for something that’s 100% Vegas, have a drink at the Main Street bar/antique shop ReBar.