LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas spectacularly welcomed 2026 with the 25th edition of “America’s Party,” lighting up the Strip with a synchronized Drone Light Spectacular and an eight-minute rooftop fireworks display by Fireworks by Grucci. Pyrotechnics launched simultaneously from the rooftops of 10 resorts:
- ARIA Resort & Casino
- Caesars Palace
- Fontainebleau Las Vegas
- MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
- Palms Casino Resort
- Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
- Resorts World Las Vegas
- The Strat Hotel, Casino & Tower
- TI – Treasure Island Hotel & Casino
- The Venetian Resort Las Vegas
For the first time on New Year’s Eve, 600 LED drones lit up the Las Vegas sky in perfect harmony with the city’s world-famous fireworks, delivering an electrifying aerial spectacle themed “Rockin’ into 2026 – Vegas Style.” The drone display painted the night sky with iconic imagery, including the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, the city skyline illuminated with “2026” rotating above, a spinning roulette wheel, a slot machine, and a “Happy New Year” greeting.
The drone show culminated in a stirring red, white, and blue finale honoring the kickoff of America’s 250th birthday celebration. To round out the New Year’s celebration and mark the beginning of a yearlong America250 tribute, resorts throughout Las Vegas displayed coordinated messages across marquees and digital screens.
Sphere once again served as Las Vegas’ official countdown to the new year, debuting a custom content show on the Exosphere, the world’s largest LED screen, that counted down to midnight and featured Orbi™ in 2026 glasses, and a debut piece from Sphere’s latest XO/Art contribution, Hugo Johnson.
Downtown, Fremont Street Experience hosted its annual Countdown Under The Canopy™, featuring live performances by Robin Thicke, CeeLo Green, Common Kings, Chingy, Pertinence, and Sammy Johnson across multiple stages, followed by a midnight fireworks display from Plaza Hotel & Casino.
New Year’s Eve visitation to Las Vegas was projected at 345,000 visitors, reinforcing the destination’s status as a favorite place to ring in the new year.
Facts about “America’s Party 2026”:
- This is Las Vegas’ 25th presentation of “America’s Party,” continuing a tradition that started in 2000
- The show takes Fireworks by Grucci the entire year to plan and choreograph.
- For the first time, “America’s Party” included a synchronized Drone Light Spectacular, featuring a fleet of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) performing a choreographed multimedia display in perfect harmony with the fireworks.
- The drone show added thousands of dynamic lights, patterns, and animations, extending the visual experience across the Las Vegas skyline.
- This year’s theme, “Rockin’ into 2026 – Vegas Style,” dazzled with bold red, blue, yellow, and silver hues that captured the city’s electric energy and dynamic spirit, building to a patriotic finale honoring the nation’s milestone 250th anniversary.
- It takes five (5) days to install the pyrotechnics on the ten (10) rooftops.
- More than 3,360 manhours were spent on the installation process.
- The crew consisted of 74 pyrotechnicians and staff, and over 100 additional security personnel on the rooftops.
- Fireworks by Grucci has produced 21 of the 25 shows, including the last 19 in a row.
* Sphere images and b-roll courtesy of Sphere Entertainment
* Fireworks, Drone Show, and America250 Marquee Takeover b-roll courtesy of Ultra Vegas Drone Services
* Palms drone b-roll courtesy Palms Casino Resort
ABOUT THE LVCVA
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is charged with positioning Southern Nevada as the undisputed global destination for leisure and business travel. It operates the 4.6-million-square-foot Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). With 150,000 hotel rooms and nearly 15 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space in Las Vegas, the LVCVA’s mission is to attract visitors to the area. The LVCVA also owns the Vegas Loop at Las Vegas Convention Center, designed and operated by The Boring Company, and also owns the Las Vegas Monorail, an elevated 3.9-mile system with seven stops throughout the resort corridor.
For more information, go to
www.lvcva.com, www.visitlasvegas.com, or www.vegasmeansbusiness.com.
