Winter in Las Vegas is always an interesting time. The heat of the summer has long been forgotten, and everyone has truly enjoyed the fine, but fleeting days of fall...and now that the first cold front has passed through town, all the locals are feeling as if they are freezing to death as the temperatures dip down into the fifties. December is a unique time for the city. The first couple of weeks in the month stay fairly busy, the week just before Christmas the town is empty and is the slowest time of the year, and the last week, after Christmas and before New Year’s, the town gets neurotically busy. During that week prior to Christmas, a lot of the shows take a holiday break and close down. It is a nice break for the performers, and they all get a holiday vacation.

Be sure to check the show listings to see the status of your favorite show.

The holiday season is always a time where the focus is on the family, and the more that people embrace the family, the home, and the holidays; the fewer people come to Las Vegas, and during the week just before Christmas, the city is fairly empty. (But usually Vegas locals don’t mind this because we have families, too.) However, this time can be a great time to visit Las Vegas. You can enjoy most of what the city has to offer and miss all of the crowds. The shows that do stay open often offer 2 for 1-ticket deals, and other offers which will continue to entice people to the Strip. The fervor of the city, though, does come back for the New Year’s celebration.

The first week of December is still busy in the city. The biggest event for this time is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) that runs until December 9th at the Thomas & Mack Center. This is one of the largest rodeo competitions in the world. It is filled with excitement, and in order to give all of the rodeo enthusiast’s options for entertainment, the city does its best to book all of the top Country and Western singers and entertainers.

There are not many conventions during the month, and after the first couple of weeks, there are no more conventions booked for the rest of the year...at all. In a city of conventions, it is amazing to have an empty calendar for two weeks.

There are many Christmas attractions, celebrations, and entertainment; and most of these things are geared to the locals and not to the tourists. These quiet and quaint festivities are nothing that a “Vegas tourist” might anticipate. They are peaceful, sweet and oftentimes show the true heart of the city. People forget that the Strip is not the city. The Strip is a fantasyland where people work, but do not live. The city is truly everything else, but the Strip. The real city is actually a quiet and rather humble place to live.

One of my favorite winter attractions is Opportunity Village, "The Magical Forest," running until December 30, 2006. The Enchanted Carousel, the Forest Express Trains, live music, sweet treats, lavishly decorated trees, whimsical displays, millions of lights and visits with Santa Claus provide people of all ages with a winter wonderland each night during the holiday season. This season hold a truly magical surprise with new exciting attractions and a newly-expanded Magical Forest that Las Vegas has never seen before. Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities by providing them with vocational training, employment and social recreation services that make their lives more productive and interesting. Once thought by society to be unemployable and unimportant in the community, people with severe disabilities are engaged, active residents who contribute to our society. Through Opportunity Village’s programs and services, hundreds of people with disabilities are learning vocational skills and being placed in jobs throughout the community.

Another good holiday attraction is "The Gift of Lights" at Sunset Park. It is a holiday drive-thru spectacular featuring hundreds of twinkling and animated displays. Part of the proceeds for that go to the Clark County Scholarship Fund, and you can receive a discount on the admission if you bring a bag of stuff for Goodwill.

The Nevada Ballet Theatre is once again presenting the "Nutcracker," at the Judy Bayley theatre. Choral groups all over the city are singing the Messiah, every community group is presenting a holiday show, and the cities annual tree lighting ceremony is on the 6th at Freemont St. Christmas in the city of Las Vegas is not really that different than in any other city in America.

With the finale of "Dancing with the Stars" having come to a close, dance enthusiasts won’t have to wait for next season to get their fill of dancing. Professional salsa dancers from around the globe are gearing up to take to the competitive stage at the Second Annual World Salsa Championships in Las Vegas on December 13-16 at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. Highlights of this year’s Championships will include the addition of an exhibition category called "Salsa Xtreme," which will be a preview to the new "Salsa Xtreme" category in 2007’s Championships. Competitors will be required to use props with a creative edge as they dance in any of the specified categories; props could include skateboards, rollerblades or anything else competitors choose.

Luxor Resort and Casino will be the home for the third season of A&E Network’s "Criss Angel MINDFREAK." The critically acclaimed show, featuring 28 episodes, began filming November 6th and will air on A&E Network beginning in the Spring of 2007...and Criss Angel MINDFREAK - The Official Store @ Luxor carries a variety of Criss Angel MINDFREAK logo-merchandise. Patrons can purchase items such as CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, posters and much more. The store also will feature unique jeweled items including key chains, earrings and necklaces made with Swarovski crystals and the popular Criss Angel Logo necklace modeled after Criss' very own.

The Rio has converted its Show-in-the-Sky into a free holiday show that is presented daily.

The Second annual Las Vegas Marathon is going to be run on December 10th. The race will start on the south Strip and proceed north to the downtown area. The success of this event last year will make this year even bigger and better. There will be thousands of runners.
Wayne Newton has his yearly Christmas show running at Harrah’s. His charisma has been missed ever since the Stardust closed. He may not have all of his voice these days, but he is always an act worth seeing.

Susan Anton has her Holiday Celebration special being presented at the Suncoast at the end of the year. She is an incredibly talented woman, and her show should be great

"Plaid Tidings" is a show for the whole family, which combines favorite tunes from the '50s and '60s, with traditional holiday songs and carols, such as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Dreidel Song," "Home for the Holidays," "Let It Snow," and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." "Forever Plaid: ‘Plaid Tidings’" is playing nightly at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino.

The first week is January is also fairly slow. Things don’t really gear back to normal until the second week. The International Consumer Electronics Show run the 8th to the 11th, bringing with it a couple of hundred thousand people, and it is always piggybacked by the Adult Entertainment Expo from the 10th to the 13th over at the Sands.

Remember, too, Elvis' Birthday is on the 8th. He would have been 71! He's not gone; he’s just left the building.

As far as the other Vegas entertainment goes...

The second week has:
2006 Billboard Music Awards
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 4, 2006
Brooks & Dunn
Las Vegas Hilton Dec 4, 2006 - Dec 6, 2006
Charlie Daniels Band
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 4, 2006
Heartland
Thomas & Mack Center Dec 4, 2006 - Dec 5, 2006 Free
Tanya Tucker
Golden Nugget Dec 4, 2006 - Dec 6, 2006
Paint Vegas Horse Show & Invitational Gift Show
South Point Casino Hotel & Spa Dec 5, 2006 - Dec 10, 2006 Free
The Guess Who, The Outlaws, Edgar Winter, More . . .
Dec 5, 2006
Kottonmouth Kings
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 6, 2006
Trent Willmon
Thomas & Mack Center Dec 6, 2006 Free
Clay Walker
Golden Nugget Dec 7, 2006 - Dec 9, 2006
Cowboy Crush
Thomas & Mack Center Dec 7, 2006 Free
Rodney Carrington
Luxor Hotel and Casino Dec 7, 2006 - Dec 9, 2006
Slightly Stoopid & Pepper
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 7, 2006
Tom Jones
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 7, 2006 - Dec 20, 2006
Vince Gill
Las Vegas Hilton Dec 7, 2006 - Dec 9, 2006
Wolfmother
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Dec 7, 2006
Dierks Bentley w/ Miranda Lambert & the Randy Rogers Band
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 8, 2006
Glen Campbell featuring Debby Campbell
Suncoast Hotel and Casino Dec 8, 2006 - Dec 10, 2006
Gregg Allman
Santa Fe Station Hotel Casino Dec 8, 2006
Panic! At The Disco with Bloc Party & Jack's Mannequin
Orleans Hotel and Casino Dec 8, 2006
Ray Scott
Thomas & Mack Center Dec 8, 2006 - Dec 9, 2006 Free
Stevie Nicks
Caesars Palace Dec 8, 2006
Tracy Lawrence
Boulder Station Hotel-Casino Dec 8, 2006 - Dec 9, 2006
April "Boy" Regino
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 9, 2006
Hank Williams, Jr.
Caesars Palace Dec 9, 2006
Jeff Foxworthy
Orleans Hotel and Casino Dec 9, 2006
Ron White
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 9, 2006
Fear Factory w/ Suffocation, Hypocrisy & Decapitated
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 10, 2006
New Las Vegas Marathon
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 10, 2006
Trans Siberian Orchestra
Orleans Hotel and Casino Dec 10, 2006

Week number three has:
My Chemical Romance
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 11, 2006
Manilow: Music and Passion
Las Vegas Hilton Dec 13, 2006 - Dec 16, 2006
USA Table Tennis
Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower Dec 13, 2006 - Dec 17, 2006
2nd Annual World Salsa Championships
South Point Casino Hotel & Spa Dec 14, 2006 - Dec 16, 2006
Donny Osmond Christmas Show
Orleans Hotel and Casino Dec 14, 2006 - Dec 17, 2006
Unplugged: The One Year Anniversary
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 14, 2006 Free
American Cheer & Dance Championships
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 15, 2006 - Dec 17, 2006
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Suncoast Hotel and Casino Dec 15, 2006 - Dec 17, 2006
Shiny Toy Guns w/ the Cab and the Higher
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 15, 2006
Brenda Lee
Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino Dec 16, 2006
Crossroads of the West Gun Show
Cashman Center Dec 16, 2006 - Dec 17, 2006
The New Cars
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 16, 2006
Senses Fail
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Dec 17, 2006

In week four, things really slow down:
David Copperfield
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 21, 2006 - Jan 3, 2007
Hawaiian Christmas Show
Suncoast Hotel and Casino Dec 21, 2006 - Dec 24, 2006
Pioneer Purevision Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium Dec 21, 2006
Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic
Orleans Hotel and Casino Dec 22, 2006 - Dec 23, 2006
Kelly Chen
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 23, 2006 - Dec 23, 2007
Rain
Caesars Palace Dec 23, 2006 - Dec 24, 2006

The last week in the month has:
The Beach Boys
Luxor Hotel and Casino Dec 25, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006
Jerry Seinfeld
Caesars Palace Dec 26, 2006 - Dec 27, 2006
Manilow: Music and Passion
Las Vegas Hilton Dec 27, 2006 - Dec 30, 2006
Black Eyed Peas
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 29, 2006
Chris Cagle & Jamie O'Neal
South Point Casino Hotel & Spa | Dec 29, 2006
Susan Anton Christmas Show
Suncoast Hotel and Casino Dec 29, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006
An Evening with Van Morrison
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Dec 30, 2006
Dancing with the Stars - The Tour
Thomas & Mack Center | Dec 30,
The Mick Fleetwood Band
South Point Casino Hotel & Spa Dec 30, 2006
UFC 66 Liddell vs. Ortiz
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Dec 30, 2006

Then, of course, there is New Year’s Eve...
"Entertainment Capital of the World" puts on a bigger and brighter show than just about anyone else on the globe. Las Vegas is only second to New York City in being a favorite destination for New Year’s Eve in the United States and our little "Glitter Gulch" continues bring in more and more people every year. Well over a quarter of a million tourists will pack the streets and the city on that night, and the city is always ready for them. The biggest problem for the tourist is trying to decide exactly what they want to do on this night, because just about every option is going to be open to them—big or little, loud or quiet. Choices for the evening can be overwhelming, but there are many ways in which you can quickly narrow down your options.

The first thing to understand is that every hotel, casino, bar and lounge is going to have a New Year’s celebration, in addition to all of the fireworks shows that will be going on all over the city. So the questions that you’ll have to ask yourself about your own celebrating will have to do with size, location, cost, and environment.

Do you want to be indoors or outdoors? A fairly simple way to start, but will certainly define the other parameters. If you choose to be indoors, then the next question that will immediately follow is...how much do you want to spend? Oddly enough, because of the number of celebrations out there, one really gets what they pay for when it comes to the parties. They are actually quite competitive. What amenities do you want or need? The more you spend, the more stuff will be made available to you. It will really all depend on your need for either extravagance or simplicity, and the size of your pocketbook.

If you choose to be outdoors you also have a lot of options, but the bigger questions for the outdoorsy folks will be, where? There are fireworks all over the city, and if you are outside, you will see fireworks. So, again, what do you want? If you want to be with a lot of people, in the heart of the action, then go down to the Strip. That’s where you and a couple hundred thousand people can all get together to watch one of the best fireworks displays in the world. Not only that, it’s free. Then again, some folks don’t want to be jostled amongst the crowd and would prefer quieter surroundings. Then drive up to the foothills that enclose our valley and find a spot that looks over the city. From there, you will see fireworks displays from all over the city. It is both quiet and can be very romantic, too.

All of the best entertainment will be playing that night as well and will be having midnight shows. If you want to celebrate while watching your favorite band, performer, or show, then make your reservations early.

New Year’s Eve is a great time in Las Vegas, and you can make it whatever you want it to be. You have more choices and options than anywhere else in the world, and that’s one of the reasons that Las Vegas is so great.

America's Party - Las Vegas New Year
Fremont Street Experience - Downtown
New Years Eve Celebration w/ Five for Fighting, All-American Rejects, Rockstar: SuperNova, and Smash Mouth
Guy Lombardo Orchestra
Suncoast Hotel and Casino
Hootie & the Blowfish
Silverton Hotel and Casino Lodge
Marty Allen & Karon Kate Blackwell
Orleans Hotel and Casino
New Year's Dance Party with the Whipits
South Point Casino
New Year's Dinner Celebration w/ Bill Medley & Special Guests
South Point Casino
New Year's Eve at Noon w/ the Las Vegas Tenors
South Point Casino Hotel & Spa
Supernova
Hard Rock Hotel
The Dan Band
Mandalay Bay
The Vincent Falcone Orchestra featuring Laura Taylor
Orleans Hotel
Yellow Brick Road
Boulder Station

For dates and times, be sure to log onto the Las Vegas Online Entertainment Guide: lvol.com.

Igoshows.com is, of course, the place to read the reviews of all of the shows that are in town so that you can be better informed as to what you should expect from a certain production. The reviews are updated as needed to give you the knowledge you need to spend your entertainment dollars better.
You can always view the current newsletter HERE

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