Things to do in Las Vegas this week

Where to go in Las Vegas: events, concerts and shows worth your night

Las Vegas has more shows on any given night than any city on earth, most of them within walking distance of each other on one four-mile street: residencies by the biggest names in music, the world’s largest immersive venue, the highest-grossing nightclubs anywhere, and a downtown that has rebuilt itself around live music. Below is where to go in Las Vegas for a night out, with addresses, and what tends to be on when.

Concerts and residencies in Las Vegas: the Sphere, the arenas and the theaters

The Sphere (255 Sands Avenue, thesphere.com), the 366-foot globe behind the Venetian, is the venue everyone asks about: a wraparound screen, around 18,000 seats, and residencies from U2 onward alongside a film shown between them. Arena tours play T-Mobile Arena (3780 S Las Vegas Boulevard) and the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The residencies live in the hotel theaters: the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Dolby Live at Park MGM, the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood and Resorts World Theater, each with a rotating cast of pop and rock headliners playing multi-week runs. Brooklyn Bowl (3545 S Las Vegas Boulevard, at the LINQ) is the mid-sized room for touring bands, with bowling lanes behind the crowd.

Las Vegas nightlife: the megaclubs and the day-to-night pools

The Strip’s clubs are the largest and most expensive in the world: Omnia at Caesars, XS and Encore Beach Club at Wynn, Zouk at Resorts World and Marquee at the Cosmopolitan, each with a resident roster of the biggest DJs. Doors open around 10.30 pm, the headliner plays after 1 am, and the day clubs run the same names by the pools from noon in the warmer months. Book tables ahead for weekends; general admission lines are long. Downtown, Fremont Street and its East Fremont bars are the cheaper, more local alternative.

Shows and theater in Las Vegas

Cirque du Soleil has half a dozen permanent productions along the Strip, from O at the Bellagio to Mystère at Treasure Island, each in a purpose-built theater. Magic, comedy and variety fill the smaller rooms, with the big comedy names playing the Mirage and the Venetian; touring Broadway plays the Smith Center (361 Symphony Park Avenue, Downtown), the city’s performing arts center and home of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theater. Same-day discount tickets are sold from the Tix4Tonight booths on the Strip.

Museums and galleries in Las Vegas

The Neon Museum (770 Las Vegas Boulevard North), a boneyard of restored signs, is best at night on a lit tour. Downtown’s Arts District, along Main Street south of Charleston, has the galleries and the First Friday art walk each month; AREA15, west of the Strip, holds Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart and a rotating set of immersive shows.

Las Vegas festivals and events by season

• Spring: EDC Las Vegas, the largest electronic festival in North America, at the Motor Speedway in May, and the pool clubs reopening from March.
• Summer: residency season peaks, with pool parties daily and the big DJs in town every weekend.
• Fall: Life Is Beautiful, the downtown music and art festival, in September; the Formula 1 Grand Prix on the Strip in November.
• Winter: the National Finals Rodeo in December, New Year’s Eve fireworks from the Strip’s rooftops, and awards-show residencies through January.

Things to do in Las Vegas tonight and this weekend

The listings above are the live version of all this: every concert, show, club night and exhibition on in Las Vegas tonight, tomorrow and this weekend, with times, prices and tickets, updated every hour.