Details of Las Vegas’ New Year’s fireworks show revealed

For the first 8 minutes, 18 seconds of 2016, Las Vegas will be "On Top of the World," as the New Year's celebration theme goes, with eyes around the globe focused on a televised, $600,000 fireworks show launched from atop resorts along the Strip.

City leaders, officials from Fireworks by Grucci, Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced the details Thursday of "America's Party 2016" from a balcony overlooking the Strip at Fashion Show mall.

"Anybody can stand around and watch a ball drop, but this is where it's happening," said Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is footing the bill for the pyrotechnic extravaganza.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the "first order of business of course, though, is safety," as thousands of revelers flock to the Strip and the Fremont Street Experience to ring in the new year.

"With different times in the world, we are leaning together in making sure everybody will be safe," Goodman said. "We want people to take responsibility themselves for making it a safe New Year's Eve."

Event organizers expect 330,000 visitors to converge on Las Vegas to ring in the new year and watch the 80,000 pyrothechnic flashes, salutes and rapid-fire aerial shells synchronized to music.

A mobile app designed by Fireworks by Grucci will let revelers follow the countdown to midnight and hear the songs synched to the fireworks. The app for iPhone and android devices can be found by searching the Internet for Fireworks by Grucci.

Phil Grucci, CEO and creative director of Fireworks by Grucci, said that in addition to deciding on the theme to be "On Top of the World," organizers decided to pay a special tribute in the grand finale to entertainment icon Frank Sinatra, who died in 1998 and was born 100 years ago on Dec. 12.

He said the pyrotechnic show with a song dedicated to each of the seven Strip properties that launch fireworks for their rooftops — the Stratosphere, The Venetian, Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Aria and MGM Grand — will last 8 minutes, 18 seconds.

Many visitors will celebrate beneath the Fremont Street Experience canopy for the "Downtown Countdown." This year's "TributePalooza" downtown features 13 tribute bands with such names as "Fan Halen," and "Red Not Chili Peppers."

"Every single TV will be on here," Goodman said. "They'll watch the ball drop in New York City. They'll see it at the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. But the focus will be on Las Vegas."

She couldn't put a price tag on the marketing impact with Las Vegas showcased on New Year's Eve. "I don't know how you calculate it."

— Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2