Happy New Year! The Lunar New Year starts Sunday. Las Vegas has a wealth of offerings to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.
Las Vegas has always been an entertainment mecca. But the bountiful buffets and FREE shrimp cocktails have evolved making the city a fine dining mecca too. Famous chefs arrive to work on the Las Vegas Strip and then decide to open their own restaurants five minutes from home. Those boring meals have morphed into tonight’s five-course Sommelier Experience at a new Italians restaurant, RPM Italian, for just $165 a person. P.S. The wine pairing is an additional $65.
My job, dear readers, is to find fun and delicious FREE things for you to do and eat in Las Vegas this weekend.
Buckle up ’cause here we go!
Celebrate the Lunar New Year (Everywhere)
The second best part of being Jewish is you get to celebrate three New Years: Jewish New Year in September, the calendar New Year in December and the Lunar New Year in January. The first best thing, of course, is homemade matzo ball soup.
Lunar New Year this year starts Sunday. But this being Las Vegas the celebrations all over town start tonight and last until next weekend.
I turn to the Genting Groups‘s Resorts World Las Vegas to set the gold standard, since it is a Malayasian company. The traditional Dragon and Lion dances are Sunday. (I don’t know if these particular dragons came from House Targaryen.) A dragon, which represents power, strength and luck, is running rampant throughout the casino floor. If you catch the dragon, you can win money.
On the upscale foodie front, you can have an authentic dim sum brunch at Genting Palace for just $88.88 per person since eight is the lucky number of the hour.
On the other side of town, Downtown Summerlin’s Lunar New Year Parade is at 5 pm on Sunday. Fan dancers, stilt walkers and an oversized-dragon highlight the parade. BESTAgency, Guan Strong Lion Arts Association and Kirin Ichiban are this year’s sponsors.
Line up on Park Centre Drive. Downtown Summerlin is known for its parades, just sayin’. FREE.
Here comes the FREE food part: KIRIN ICHIBAN is sponsoring complimentary tastings in the Dining Arroyo.
A third option is the 2023 Chinese New Year Festival in Chinatown Plaza. It’s tomorrow from 11 am to 8 pm and Sunday from 1 to 8 pm. FREE.
There will be 17 food trucks and lots of performances. Not all are serving Chinese food: Grouchy John’s coffee, I Luv Cotton Candy and Buldogis Gourmet Hot Dogs are on the list.
I love going to Chinatown to buy jade jewelry, but I digress.
Happy New Year! (again.)
Cosmic Swim Returns (East)
Cosmic Swim returns to the Hollywood Aquatic Center.
What it is? You can swim in the pool with the lights out so you can see the stars up above.
And the Aquatic Center will be showing a movie too. They’ll hand out glow sticks to swim with. If you can’t swim, they’ll provide inner tubes.
This event is not exactly FREE, but tickets for kids 17 and under cost just $2, adults $3 and fossils like me get in for a dollar. Cheaper than a cup of coffee anywhere.
So Does the Soul Juice Band (Henderson)
A favorite recipe for a great FREE night out in Las Vegas has these two ingredients: The Soul Juice Band and Chrome Showroom (having nothing to do with your browser) at Sunset Station.
David Tatlock, who formed the band to deal with the grief of losing his brother, put together a horn sector to rival Lon Bronson‘s.
Tatlock writes his own music. The sycopated, foot-tapping “Funky Like That” is the band’s newest hit. Their music sounds like old-time Chicago after the band swallowed a large dose of funk.
All y’all know I love Chrome Showroom. It’s intimate. It has a roomy dance floor. The sound system rocks. There’s FREE parking in a covered garage. What is not to love?
Starts at 9.
Have a great weekend, Las Vegas.
((hugs)) BETH Ellyn
BS.39349
“Bet on the house odds with BE”
702.324.6911
yale1974@gmail.com
BA: Yale
MS: Columbia
MBA: L’ecole du Hard Knocks
Licensed in Nevada since 1996; I have previous
When competence AND creativity matter!
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