Inaugural Life is Beautiful Festival a great success!
Life is Beautiful Festival the Music, Food, Art and Learning Event created for Las Vegas, has wrapped up its inaugural weekend with an impressive 60,000 in attendance, who successfully enjoyed two full days of non-stop music, food, art and learning. “Both in attendance and sentiment, this festival has exceeded our very high expectations,” said festival co-founder and CEO Rehan Choudhry. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Every musician, chef, artist and speaker on the festival showed a tremendous amount of love for Las Vegas through their performances, and seeing hometown heroes The Killers close out the festival to thunderous applause was heart warming.”
Kings of Leon, Beck and Imagine Dragons were the main events for Saturday, October 26, with The Killers and Vampire Weekend headlining Sunday, October 27.
Day 1 highlights included: Headliner Kings of Leon closed out the festival’s first night with an inspiring performance featuring a three-song encore, Hometown favorites Imagine Dragons spoke about their excitement of being part of the transformation of Downtown Las Vegas. Their set ended with a surprise appearance from the cast of Mystère by Cirque du Soleil. Beck performed Michael Jackson’s hit song “Billie Jean”.
Day 1 included other great performances by Alabama Shakes, Capital Cities, Youngblood Hawke, ZZ Ward, Family of the Year, Cayucas, and Nico Vega. Las Vegas based bands performing on Day 1 were Rhyme N Rhythm, Ekoh, Rusty Maples, Same Sex Mary, Sabriel, Crazy Chief, A Crowd of Small Adventures, and Goldboot.
Day 2 highlights included: Headliner and hometown sensations “The Killers” performed their new single “Shot At The Night” for the first time live. Haim packed the Huntridge Stage at the band’s first Las Vegas show. Jurassic 5 arrived in a motorcycle-drawn carriage. Janelle Monáe covered The Jackson 5’s “I Want you Back.” Vampire Weekend made a stop at Atomic, the oldest bar in Las Vegas, before their set which began with “Sunday Morning,” as a tribute to rock legend Lou Reed.
Day 2 included other great performances by Empire of the Sun, Passion Pit, Jurassic 5, Janelle Monáe, STS9, Portugal. The Man, The Joy Formidable, Charli XCX, Living Colour, Haim, Smith Westerns, Twenty One Pilots, and Five Knives. Las Vegas based bands performing on Day 2 were Moondog Matinee (actually from Reno), American Cream, The Dirty Hooks, Most Thieves, Kid Meets Cougar, Beau Hodges Band, Haleamano, Jordan Kate Mitchell, Joey Pero and His Band, and Dusty Sunshine.
Life is Beautiful Festival was a developed by Aurelian Marketing Group in partnership with Another Planet Entertainment, MAKTUB Marketing and Downtown Project, and with the cooperation of the City of Las Vegas to shut down an unprecedented 15 city blocks as its venue. The festival featured more than 70 bands including headliners Kings of Leon and The Killers; more than 50 chefs and restaurants; special performances by Cirque du Soleil and other theatrical productions; over a dozen world-renowned artists; and over 25 noted speakers.
Photos courtesy of Life Is Beautiful Festival | by FilmMagic
