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Just got back from 12 days in Vegas. Part of that was spent downtown. This year there seemed to be a lot of people not in the paid circles with lewd, crude signage. Does anyone monitor that behavior? It was particularly offensive this year. Have authorities quit trying to clean up the downtown?
City of Las Vegas Communications Director David Riggleman responds, “Yes, the street performers, also known as buskers, are required to be within the designated spots along the Fremont Street Experience (FSE). A lottery is conducted each day for those spots at varying times. While the location of the performers has been designated, their individual activities fall under the First Amendment. This gives them a broad range of activities they can perform within the eyes of the law.”
“We certainly regret that anyone found the behavior of the street performers offensive,” Riggleman concludes. “I can tell you that surveys conducted by UNLV indicate that the vast majority of people visiting the downtown and the Fremont Street Experience would recommend them to family and friends. In addition to attractions on the FSE, downtown Las Vegas is also the home the Mob Museum (selected as one of the top 20 museums in America), the Neon Museum (soon to host an art exhibit by Tim Burton), The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Fremont East, the Arts District, and the newly renovated Main Street South. We hope that visitors have positive experiences wherever they visit and that downtown Las Vegas will continue to be a destination of choice.”
“A venue can’t ‘monitor' freedom of expression. It's a quandary,” adds a source close to the Fremont Street Experience (which did not condescend to answer our request for an official comment).
So while your experience, pardon the pun, was distasteful, we can hold little hope that it will be different next time.