Las Vegas Neighborhood Holiday Lights Displays

It took a bit longer than we expected but we have put together our annual list of neighborhood  Holiday Light Displays and Events around the Las Vegas Valley. If you know of a house or Event that should be included be sure to hit the comments section and let us know!

Neighborhoods:

Take a tour of holiday lights and decorations around the Las Vegas Valley. The area is divided into quadrants by using Sahara Avenue to divide north from south and Interstate 15 to divide east from west.

DOWNTOWN:

Twisted Vegas at 1941 Houston Drive

NORTHEAST:
Address: 3164 Mclennan Ave., North Las Vegas, 89081
Resident: Kellee Enneman
Description: 5 - 11 p.m. Perfectly straight house lights and multiple yard decorations. Decorations are accompanied by music.

Address: 1343 Villa Park Court, Las Vegas, 89110

Resident: Chris Colasuono

Description: 4 - 10:30 p.m. Sun-Thurs; 4 - 11 p.m. Fri-Sat. 10,000 lights that are synchromized to music. Music can be heard on station 106.1 FM. Currently 14 various song/light shows are programmed.


NORTHWEST:

Address: 8117 Chestnut Hollow Ave., Las Vegas, 89131
Resident: Frank Endellicate
Description: Entire house decorated from top to bottom. Various lawn ornaments, blow ups, reindeer and santas! Lights galore!

Address: 6759 Rowena Circle, Las Vegas, 89131
Resident: Missi K. Winter
Description: Anytime after 5:30 pm. Themed as the Peanuts visiting the North Pole!

Address: 6601 Brandywine Way, Las Vegas
Submitted by Bonnie Sandusky
Description: 7 - 10 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday; Monday-Tuesday, all day. My parents' home, always decorated every space you can imagine ... from the roof to the whole front yard! My Dad does this himself everyt year. He is 80 years old! Climbs up that roof, etc. Then goes to my sister's house & helps her! Every year! Needs to be recognized.

Address: 6313 Bristol Way, Las Vegas, 89107
Submitted by Bonnie Sandusky
Description: My sister's house says: Happy Birthday Jesus. Everyone seems to forget what Christmas really means & her display says it all ... a must see! 
 

New addition submitted by one of our readers:

NorthWest area, Residential home has an animated musical Christmas Lights display and a video of Santa in a window. A joke telling elf is hosting the Broadcast on 101.1 Fm  

3646 Carol Lark Court Las Vegas 89129.

SOUTHEAST:

A new addition submitted by one of our readers:

Address: 4255 El Cid Way Las Vegas NV 89121

Description: Huge two story house all decorated, TONS OF LIGHTS, garage has a viewing of a HUGE mini Christmas village built up on Styrofoam which includes three full trains running throughout the mini village, house will NOT disappoint! Truly a masterpiece!!!

SOUTHWEST:

Address: 2757 Grande Valley, Las Vegas, 89135

Resident: Rupert Chamberlain
Description: 5-10 p.m. My favorite TV show of all time is "Star Trek." The recent "Star Trek" movie was OK, but I much prefer the original cast. As a tribute to the show I have decorated my front yard to represent some of my favorite episodes with a holiday twist. Kirk and Spock in hand-to-hand combat armed with candy canes and dressed as elves, red, white and green animatronic tribbles and much much more. A true Trekkies holiday delight! Come one and all and join for a Romulan ale as we boldly go where no man has gone before!

Address: 10878 Milbank Ave, Las Vegas, 89135
Resident: Jerrold E. Creed
Description: 4 to 10 p.m. daily. Tune your car radio to 103.9 FM. Thousands of LED lights set to music. THX opening, Carol of the Bells, Linus and Lucy, Jingle Bells, TSO Wizards of Winter. Picture on this web page is this house. Featuring 16 mini trees out front. Merry Christmas. 

Address: 346 Maddalena, Las Vegas, 89183
Resident: Ryan S. Knepp
Description: 6 - 8 p.m. My 14-year-old stepson Ryan Knepp loves Christmas decorations. With every dime he gets he buys blow-up decorations to place in the yard. Over the last month he has spent countless hours setting up his display.

He has about 40 blow ups plus countless lights and other displays. Last year he had blow ups stolen. He now attaches each one to plywood and puts a cable around all of them to prevent them from being stolen. He is very meticulous and makes sure every wire and string is just right. This 14-year-old does this all by himself and with his own money. Truly an inspiring story about Christmas and youth.

Address: 3308 Surfline Dr., Las Vegas 89117
Resident: Walt Patalina
Description: 5-11 p.m.

HENDERSON:

Address: 3018 Scenic Valley Way, Henderson 89052
Resident: Robert Thomas
Description: 4:30 - 11:30 p.m. Lots of lights, inflatable airplane on roof, nativity scene, snow globe and lighted animals, angels and more. Live Santa appearing on Sundays.

New addition: 1700 block of Quiver Point Avenue

NORTH LAS VEGAS:

A new addition:

3016 Judson Avenue

EVENTS:

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is hosting a nightly light show with 400 animated lights along the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) racetrack. 

Town Square Park

And while real snow is a possibility at this writing (and gets less if the weather warms up), Town Square Park hosts a show of artificial snowflakes falling at 7 p.m. nightly until Dec. 23, with a second show at 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday.

Neon Museum:

Starting Nov. 30, visitors who take the nighttime tour of the Museum’s Boneyard also will view a special, holiday-inspired palette of lights. Also on the Neon Museum’s holiday schedule is an ornament-making activity from 3 to 5 p.m. Dec. 14. Following that session, from 5 to 6 p.m., hot chocolate will be served and singers from Las Vegas Academy will perform in the Neon Boneyard’s outdoor events area. The event is free and open to the public.

Nighttime tours of the Neon Boneyard are $25 for general admission and $22 for seniors, students, active military and veterans, and Nevada residents with valid IDs.

 Sam’s Town

Mystic Falls at Sam's Town casino and hotel is once again decorated for the holidays. The winter wonderland features holiday trees, festive lighting, snowfall, animatronics, laser lights and water features. There is also a 15-minute laser light show hourly during the holiday season from 5 to 10 p.m. Santa Claus will appear from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. More info

Jingle Bell Block

Dec. 5-24
Downtown Grand Las Vegas and Downtown 3rd have created a winter wonderland named Jingle Bell Block on 3rd Street between Stewart and Ogden avenues. There is a Christmas tree lot, holiday beverages and festive food available for purchase, a free bounce house for kids, and handcrafted gifts for sale from the Downtown 3rd Farmers Market. Santa Claus will also be available for visits. The Christmas tree lot will be open 5 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays. Santa's Village will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Open through Dec. 24. Admission and valet parking is free.

Sunset Park

1st annual Sunset Wonderland Holiday Festival
Dec. 6-22
4 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends
Sunset Wonderland will have activities every Friday, Saturday and Sunday including holiday music, children's games/activities, contests, horse rides, holiday carolers, live music and dance performances by local Las Vegas dance troupes and, of course, we can’t forget about photo opportunities with Santa. Additional craft and food vendor will be on site in our Wonderland Marketplace on the weekends as well. Ice-skating, Ferris Wheel, Tree purchases & the Holiday Wonderland of Tree Display will be available Monday thru Thursday from 4PM-10PM and weekends from 10AM - 9PM.The event is for all ages.
Price: Free to Sunset Wonderland, Ice Skating $8 per hour including skate rental
More info: Call (702) 455-8200

Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest

Opportunity Village

702-259-3741

November 27, 2013-January 6, 2014

Call or Check Site for Hours or to Purchase Tickets

Spring's Preserve 

Spring's Preserve boasts the Holiday Spectacular, a winter wonderland bathed in lights and snow flurries, surrounded by madrigal singers and carolers, and offering pony rides and pictures with Santa Claus

Ethel M. Chocolate Factory Cactus Garden Light Display

This long time local favorite proves that even here in the desert the spirit of Christmas abounds. Hundreds of cacti and other desert plants are adorned with nearly half a million LED. Open (and free) to the public from 5 PM - 10 PM nightly until January 1st this Henderson must see includes holiday performances and visits from Santa. Perfect for kids and grandparents and anyone in between, few Las Vegas traditions can compete. See the schedule of events.

Crystals at City Center's Holiday Winter Wonderland

To say Free and Crystal's in one sentence will make any Las Vegas resident chuckle. The shopping center known for such outrageously high end shops like Cartier, Gucci and Prada has earned a reputation as the king of upper echelon shopping. If you're arms are laden with bags from these shops you're a high roller.

It may come as a surprise then to see one of the best FREE holiday displays anywhere in Las Vegas. Hundreds of seasonal plants decorate the multi levels of this amazing shopping mall, including the rare and never before seen in the US white LED Christmas trees, draped in crystal as well as numerous massive traditional trees sent in from Oregon. Take the kids or the wife or the in laws to this soon to be perennial holiday favorite. Just try and keep your money in your wallet.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

Las Vegas Memory Lane

                   Fremont Street with just a sliver of the park that once was in front of the Train Depot

Fremont Street looking west towards the Train Depot

The wonderful Fox Theater in the original Charleston Plaza Mall.

It was a great theater, big, comfortable seats, big screen with a red curtain and air conditioning.

Fremont Street looking east towards the El Cortez

Glitter Gulch

Fremont Street looking west towards the Train Depot

Robbie the Robot plays blackjack

"Boylesque" Star Kenny Kerr has died

                The pioneering Kenny Kerr

Before Frank Marino flourished in drag on the famed Las Vegas Strip, that journey had been pioneered by the one and only Kenny Kerr. Back in 1977, he brought drag shows out of the shadows and made them  accessible and popular on the famed Strip. The flashy Boylesque marquee as part of the Silver Slipper sign signaled to tourists and locals alike that it was okay to come in, have a drink and enjoy a night of comedy that you couldn't find anywhere else on the famed boulevard. He held court at the tiny Silver Slipper for eleven years.

Kenny Kerr passed away earlier today.

From Mike Weatherford at the Las Vegas Review Journal:

Kenny Kerr, the bad girl that Las Vegas fell hard for in the ’70s, died Sunday. He was 60.

The star of “Boy-lesque” was the Strip’s first must-see female impersonator, pulling a locals-heavy audience into a tiny casino called the Silver Slipper for 11 years with his deadpan stare, cutthroat wit and killer gowns.

“It’s now to the point where there are three things you have to see: Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and ‘Boy-lesque,’” Kerr said in 1988, when the show wrapped its long era at the Silver Slipper in anticipation of the casino’s eventual closure and demolition.

Kerr’s impressions of Cher and Barbra Streisand were matched by his comedic skills as the show’s saucy host.

Drag was still somewhat taboo when Kerr came to town in 1977, but by then, he had already been impersonating Streisand for years.

Growing up in Blue Anchor, N.J., he was 16 when a couple who saw him shopping at a mall noted his resemblance to Streisand. They soon had him riding the bus into Philadelphia to perform at night while he was still attending high school.

“These people had a show of the sort I do now and asked me if I wanted to work in it,” he recalled in 1982. They talked a lot of money. ... Most of my contemporaries had jobs for minimum wage or less.”

Going out on his own a few years later, Kerr and his original cast showcased their act for free at the Sahara and caught the attention of Herb Kaufman, the owner of Wonder World discount stores.

The Slipper show quickly became a low-cost novelty for locals to take out-of-town visitors. But it arrived fresh on the heels of Anita Bryant’s anti-gay crusade, and for years Kerr said the question “Are you gay?” was one he had to dance around.

“It’s a question I can’t win by answering,” he said in 1982. “If I said I am gay, there are an awful lot of narrow-minded people out there. And If I said I’m heterosexual, a lot of people wouldn’t believe me.”

Kerr kept working after the Silver Slipper era, with long runs at the Sahara and Plaza followed by smaller casinos and gradually diminishing returns, as the rival “La Cage” revue proved fierce competition and the shock value faded over the years.

For more click here.

Kenny Kerr photo courtesy of Eventful.com

Saying good-bye to the Sahara Hotel

 

It was one of the first hotels on the famed Las Vegas Strip. With Bill Miller and Stan Irwin helming the Entertainment duties, it quickly moved to the forefront.

As it's popularity grew, so grew the hotel. Stan Irwin arranged for The Beatles to come to Las Vegas but quickly realized that the Sahara showroom would be too small. He arranged for the English mop-tops to stay at the hotel and they played the old Convention Center in 1964.

Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera and the Witnesses created the Las Vegas lounge scene when they started playing the Casbah shortly before Christmas in 1954. Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene and Don Rickles were the comedians they rotated with.

Johnny Carson graced the stage of the Congo Room (and was part owner of our independent televsion station, KVVU-5 that broadcast out on Boulder Highway).

Jerry Lewis brought his MDS Labor Day telethon (and many a star) from New York to the Sahara Space Center in the late 1960s.

The Sahara was home to fine dining at the House of Lords and you could have a mid-century modern dining experience at Don the Beachcomber.

For more on the history of the Sahara: http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/2008/1/22/the-swinging-sahara-hotel-history-1950s.html

The original camels and signage at the Sahara Hotel

Menu from Don the Beachcomber at the Sahara

It's really the House of Lords at the Sahara Hotel

Original rendering for the main lobby of the Sahara

The Congo Room at the Sahara Hotel

Aerial view of the Sahara Hotel before the Nascar and roller coaster were added to the front.

The original pylon sign for the Sahara

A blast from the past, the Halloween Love-In in 1967

Letters from the Sahara's pylon sign at the Neon Museum

We will miss the Sahara and her swinging history. How about you, share your memories of the "swingingest" hotel on the Strip!