Las Vegas - Entertainment Capital of the World

International Mariachi Festival

13 Sep (annual)
First held in 1991, to celebrate Mexican Independence, the Las Vegas International Mariachi Festival takes place at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.The festival originated in the state of Jalisco (in Western Mexico) in the late-19th century. And used the instruments namely the bass guitaron, guitar, violin and, later, the trumpet.With the advent of radio and television their popularity grew and mariachis can now be found all over Latin America.

Joe Weider's IFBB Olympia
Logo for the International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB)

Sep (annual)
The most muscular guys and girls in the world arrive in Las Vegas for Joe Weider's IFBB Olympia at the 8000-seat Orleans Arena. The men battle it out for the title of Mr. Olympia and the women professionals compete for three titles: Ms Olympia, Fitness Olympia and Figure Olympia.The Mr Olympia competition is the biggest prize in bodybuilding. The tournament was founded in 1965 and over the years many of the most famous names in the sport have competed for the coveted title. The most famous of all was Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California - visited in 2004, along with Sylvester Stallone

Andre Agassi. Photo by Nueva Perspectiva

Andre Agassi Grand Slam For Children

Oct (annual)
Every year tennis superstar Andre Agassi invites his showbiz pals to the Wynn Las Vegas for the city's biggest single-night charity fundraiser the Andre Agassi Grand Slam For Children.All the money raised goes to benefit underprivileged, abused and at-risk children in the Las Vegas community.There are four levels of sponsorship - Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond, based on the amount for buying a table of ten seats.

Fetish and Fantasy Halloween Ball

25 Oct (annual)
The annual Fetish and Fantasy Halloween Ball at the Sport Center of Las Vegas.To see unusual clothing celebrating their very own Halloween spectacle.The programme includes wild and unusual stage performances. There's a huge main dance floor and a separate old school dance area.

Vegas Valley Book Festival

Nov (annual)
The Vegas Valley Book Festival, held around downtown Vegas, allows literature fans to shine in this city of more immediate pleasures. A two-day programme of readings, panel discussions, exhibits, poetry and book signings attracts leading national and international authors.

Las Vegas' Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Dec (annual)
The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) brings together cowboys and cowgirls from around the world at the Thomas & Mack Center for the ultimate showdown championship, known as the Superbowl of Rodeos. Competing for US$5 million of prize money and the winners' golden buckles.Some 120 cowboys sling it out in seven events: bareback riding, saddle bronco riding, bull riding, team roping, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and barrel racing.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo by soldiersmediacenter

Supercross in Las Vegas.
Photo by jhuffmanPhotography

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Mar (annual)
Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts races each season during the NEXTEL series of NASCAR races.The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. Of the three race series they sanction, the NEXTEL Cup Series is by far the most popular.The season is split into two parts, first a 26-race "regular" season, then a ten-race playoff called "race for the cup.

World Supercross GP/AMA Supercross Series Supercross motorbike racing

May (annual)
The high-powered motorcycles fly around a specially-built course, taking in jumps and bumps, attempting to win the huge cash prizes on offer.The riders in this high-octane motorbike event use very powerful motorcross bikes, giving them more speed and height as they hit the dirt ramps.The jumps can be up to 40 metres in length, some 15 metres in the air.

Alex

Cuisine : Continental
A dramatic room, all swooping drapes and inlaid wood, it's true elegance but still a place where grown-ups come to dine.A general sense of food as pleasure and art, and you have one of the most special dining experiences in Vegas.The menu changes regularly -- Chef is as exacting as a chef should be.

Bellagio Buffet. Photo by nattokun

Canaletto's balcony dining room
Photo by jay.tong

Bellagio Buffet

Cuisine : Buffet
The array of food is fabulous with one ethnic cuisine.There are elaborate pastas and semitraditional Italian-style pizza from a wood-fired oven. Each end of the line are not to be missed : scallops, smoked salmon, crab claws, shrimp, oysters, and assorted condiments.

Canaletto

Cuisine : Italian
Here, the emphasis is on the pasta.This place is all the more enjoyable for being perched on the faux St. Mark's Square.You can pretend you are sitting on the edge of the real thing.A risotto of porcini, sausage, and roast chicken was perfectly moist. You know, a properly roasted chicken should be a much-celebrated thing, and that alone may be a reason to come here.

Cypress Street Marketplace

Cuisine : Food Court
Here, in this modern version of the classic food court.There's darn fine barbecue ,wrap sandwiches,Asian (Vietnamese noodles), decent NY pizza, plump Chicago hot dogs, shrimp and lobster chowder, salad bar, plus pastries and even wine. You get a card when you enter, and it's swiped whenever you choose something, and then you pay the total price after you eat (on real plates with real napkins and forks). It's slightly more convenient than the traditional pay-as-you-go food court.

Dragon Noodle Co. Photo by tempo

Dragon Noodle Co

Cuisine : Asian
Dragon Noodle is one of the better Chinese restaurants in town. There are some other interesting choices on the menu. Note also the many Asian clients and that the restaurant can handle large groups. Food is served family style and prepared in an open kitchen so you know it's fresh.You might let your waiter choose your meal for you, but try the crispy Peking pork, the sweet pungent shrimp, and perhaps the generous seafood soup.

Fin

Cuisine : Seafood, Chinese

Dinner at Fin. Photo by evanosherow


Lotus of Siam. Nam Prik Noom
Photo by jen_maiser

Elegant and decorous of the glass ball curtains, evocative of bubbles rising in water. Though that may just be reaction to the prices, especially when you see how cheap dim sum is in other parts of town.Still, the quiet flourish of ritual that accompanies course presentation makes for a peaceful break from casino madness. Highlights include the rice cooked in chicken fat, the crispy shiitake mushrooms in a sweet-and-sour sauce and the deeply spicy seared black-pepper beef tenderloin

Jillian's

Cuisine : American
This is a branch of a national chain while the fare is strictly coffee shop.It's a good representative of same.You will find the usual playful concept chain food starters : Buffalo , mozzarella sticks, plus a more clever spinach and artichoke dip with chips and some unexpected New Orleans-influenced entrees such as jambalaya and even crawfish. And everything is what you might expect in terms of quality.The atmosphere is lively.

Lotus of Siam

Cuisine : Thai
First of all, in addition to all the usual beloved Thai favorites, they have a separate menu featuring lesser-known dishes from northern Thailand.You might be letting them know you are interested in Northern food.Standouts include the Issan sausage (a grilled sour pork number).If you insist on more conventional Thai, that's okay, in that it's you are going to have better mee krob noodles or tom kah kai.If in season, finish with mango with sticky rice, or if not, coconut ice cream with sticky rice.

M&M Soul Food

Cuisine : Soul Food
At first glance, the neighborhood seems intimidating, but it's not actually threatening. Why come here? Because locals have voted this their favorite soul food place, and while the competition may not be all that high, the quality stands out regardless.Mini cornbread pancakes are served to every table. Smothered fried chicken is moist, slightly spicy, and topped with a robust gravy. The menu includes hot links, collard greens, and other typical options.

Mesa Grill. Photo by Kim Pierro

Mesa Grill

Cuisine : Southwestern
There is so much that is fun here:blue-corn pancakes with barbeque duck, pumpkin soup with pomegranate and pecan relish.Presentation is over the top -- yes, yes, this is playful food.Desserts are equally frivolous, raspberry and white-chocolate cheesecake.

Entrance Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art at Bellacio Las Vegas.
Photo by Andrea Zweifel

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art

Everyone scoffed when then-Bellagio owner Steve Wynn opened an art gallery on his fabulous property. Sure, Wynn's been a serious fine-arts collector for years.There certainly are serious works by masters.Tons of tourists come, so many that they had to almost immediately relocate the gallery to a larger space.The gallery is not only open again, it's also getting written up by real art critics.See, he's a longtime well-respected collector.Now, will there be as interesting a show when you go.Then there's that ticket price-cost only about $2.

King Tut Museum

Tut's sarcophagus gleams with gold.
Photo by mharrsch


Atomic Testing Museum entrance.
Photo by misterbisson


Ethel M's Classic Collection
Photo by Kodamakitty

This full-scale reproduction of King Tutankhamen's tomb.There are the antechamber, annex, burial chamber, and treasury housing.The inventory discovered by archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in the Valley of Kings at Luxor in 1922. It was all handcrafted in Egypt by artisans using historically correct gold leaf and linens, pigments, tools, and ancient methods.It's hardly like seeing the real thing, but if you aren't going to Egypt anytime soon. Perhaps checking out reproductions isn't a bad idea and for a Vegas fake, it's surprisingly enjoyable.A 4-minute introductory film precedes a 15-minute self-guided audio tour (available in English, French, Spanish, and Japanese).

The Atomic Testing Museum

From 1951 until 1992, the Nevada Test Site was this country's primary location for testing nuclear weapons. Aboveground blasts in the early days were visible to the tourists and residents of Las Vegas. This well-executed museum, library, and gallery space. Offers visitors a fascinating glance at the test site from ancient days through modern times. With memorabilia, displays, official documents, videos, interactive displays, motion-simulator theaters (like sitting in a bunker), and emotional testimony from the people who worked there.Not to be missed, even if it's only because of the Albert Einstein action figure in the gift shop. Visitors should plan on spending at least an hour.

Ethel M Chocolates

This tourist attraction draws about 2,000 visitors a day. Ethel Mars began making fine chocolates in a little candy kitchen around the early 20th century.Her small enterprise evolved to produce the varieties of superb boxed chocolates, and some of the world's most famous candies: M&Ms, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, and Mars bars.The place does look like a bakery rather than a factory. Come before 2:30pm, which is when the workers start to pack up and go home.There's a little seat in which to sit and enjoy the garden.Behind the garden, also with a self-guided tour, is Ethel M's "Living Machine," a natural wastewater treatment and recycling plant.

Cupid's Wedding Chapel. Photo by natala007

Cupid's Wedding Chapel

Fremont Street Experience.
Photo by laffy4k

The little chapel with the big heart." Well, it just might be.The schedules weddings an hour apart to provide time for the full production number.The folks at Cupid's pride themselves on offering "a traditional church wedding at a chapel price."They also offer family weddings for those couples blending preexisting families.It seats 60 to 70. They added a classic banquet hall so you can have your reception and wedding all in one place.

Fremont Street Experience

The Fremont Street Experience is a 5-block open-air landscaped strip of outdoor snack shops, vendor carts, and colorful kiosks purveying food and merchandise. At night, it is the most successfully revamped Viva Vision, a high-tech light-and-laser show (the canopy is equipped with more than 12.5 million lights).There are a number of different shows. There's music between the light performances as well. It's really cool, in that Vegas over-the-top way that you love so much.The crowd it attracts is more upscale than in every year. A good place to view the Sky Parade light show is from the balcony at Fitzgerald's Casino & Hotel.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo by iZep

Navada. Photo by soldiersmediacenter

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

This 176,000-seat facility was the first new super-speedway to be built in the Southwest in over 2 decades. A $200-million state-of-the-art motorsports entertainment complex. It includes a 1.5-mile super-speedway, a 2 .5-mile FIA-approved road course. Also on the property are facilities for go-kart, Legends Car, Sand Drag, and Motocross competition as well as driving schools, attractions, and more.Some major hotels have shuttles to the speedway during big events.

Chapel of the Flowers

This chapel's claim to fame is that Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra exchanged their deathless vows here.This is the slickest operation on the Strip, a big complex that offers your best shot at a traditional wedding.The smallest is the Magnolia Chapel, full of artificial flowers and a freestanding archway.If you want an outdoor vow exchange, you might choose the gazebo by a running stream and waterfall that nearly drowns out Strip noise.There's also a medium-size reception room and live organ music upon request. It's a pretty, friendly place that seems to keep an eye on its bustling party.

Various Ungulates at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.
Photo by S.C. Asher

Las Vegas Natural History Museum

The museum is enlivened by a hands-on activity room and two life-size dinosaurs that roar at one another intermittently.So you might want to warn any sensitive little ones that the big tyrannosaurs aren't going anywhere. Surprisingly, the gift shop here is particularly well stocked with neat items you won't too terribly mind buying for the kids. When you are finished, you might as well scoot around the corner to the Old Fort.This isn't a strong enough attraction on its own but is a logical transition from this destination.