Your Las Vegas Guide to New Year’s Eve-ing

The Las Vegas Strip is the ultimate destination for New Year s Eve, with a party that literally goes on for miles (four of them). Here are some of the most popular ways it offers to mark the passage of another year.

This year’s fireworks on the Las Vegas Strip will be counted down by the Sphere’s Exosphere display. (Image: Shutterstock)Free Fireworks 

At midnight on Dec. 31, the sky over the Strip will light up for 10 minutes with more explosions than a Michael Bay film. The choreographed “America’s Party” show is once again expected to launch from the rooftops of Aria, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World, the SRAT, Treasure Island and the Venetian.

And it won t cost you $100 to see or even a $20 tip.

Fireworks Viewing PartiesSteve Aoki. (Image: Caesars Entertainment)

If being crowded on all sides by 400K other people with the same miserly idea isn’t your New Year’s Eve fantasy, the Strip offers plenty of public viewing parties. Most are at rooftop nightclubs and are paired with popular DJs and rappers for entertainment. Admission usually starts at $100 a person and skyrockets from there. Here are this year s biggest

Steve Aoki at Omnia at Caesars PalaceT-Pain at Zouk at Resorts WorldLil Wayne at Drai’s at The CromwellDJ Pauly D at the Marquee at the CosmopolitanT. Genasis at Tao at the VenetianThe Chainsmokers at XS at Wynn

At the Ice Rink on the fourth floor of the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Tower, $100 will also get you skating and a champagne toast at midnight. But, of course, the best view will be from 108 floors up at the STRAT, whose “Party at the Top” runs $150 a head.

DinnerTop of the World at the STRAT. (Image: restaurantbusinessonline.com)

If you’d prefer to view the fireworks in peace and quiet, from your window seat over a decent meal, the Chandelier Bar will seat you for a multi-course meal for $250 per person with panoramic views from its 64th floor, while the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay offers $300 per person dining on its 63rd floor. (Caveat: You can t really tell what floor you’re really on in Las Vegas, since due to international gambling superstitions.)

Paris Las Vegas will seat you at its Eiffel Tower Restaurant for $250 per person or its dressed-down Beer Park for $200, while Resorts World offers seating for a seven-course spread at Aqua Seafood Caviar, or a three-course one at Bar Zazu, for around $300 each.

Once again, the best view will be from the STRAT’s rooftop restaurant, Top of the World, where a seating starts at only $155.

ConcertsBruno Mars. (Image: MGM Resorts)

Most of the concerts below sold out as soon as they went on sale. However, thanks to Stubhub and other ticket reseller sites, there is no such thing as an unavailable ticket anymore. There is merely a ticket you need to sell a kidney on the black market to afford. Isn’t that great news?

Here are the biggies on New Year’s Eve…

Bruno Mars at Dolby Live at Park MGMJanet Jackson at Resorts WorldImagine Dragons at the Venetian 50 Cent at PH Live at Planet HollywoodAnyma The End of Genesys at the SphereCreed at the Colosseum at Caesars PalaceDuran Duran at BleauLive, FontainebleauDavid Blaine at Encore Theater, Wynn Las Vegas

Also performing on NYE will be Lil Jon at Jewel at Aria and Tiësto at LIV at Fontainebleau. (We left them off our list of viewing parties because those nightclubs lack Strip viewing terraces.)

There’s also the Time of Your Life Celebration under the Fremont Street Experience canopy. It may once again underwhelm with star power. (Its headliners are Flo Rida, LoCash, Bow Wow and Dylan Marlowe.) However, it’s the least-expensive New Year’s Eve concert you can possibly attend ($60) and Fremont Street has its own midnight fireworks as well.