First of all, it’s quite safe. Las Vegas Advisor contributor and Stiffs & Georges blogger David McKee and his wife paid a special visit to Broadacres Market Place & Event Center after receiving your question. Their advice: Make sure your footwear is comfortable and that you stay hydrated, and your Broadacres experience will be an enjoyable one.
Located at 2930 N. Las Vegas Blvd., Broadacres is well named, sprawling over 22 acres, surrounded by an equal amount of parking. This 44-acre triangle is bordered on the northwest by Las Vegas Boulevard and on the east by Pecos Road. If you’re coming from the north on I-15, take the Cheyenne Road exit and go east on Cheyenne until it intersects Las Vegas Boulevard. Then double back to the southwest on the latter for about a half-mile. If you’re driving up from the south, take the East Lake Mead Boulevard exit and follow Lake Mead Boulevard until it intersects with Las Vegas Boulevard. Take that northeast for roughly a mile and you have arrived.
Broadacres is a weekend-only phenomenon, opening at 6 a.m., and closing at 3 p.m. on Fridays, at 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Yes, you have to pay to get in (50 cents on Friday, a dollar on Saturday and $1.50 on Sunday), which is a clever means of planting the notion that you need to buy something to "justify" that minimal admission fee. Kids under 12 – or less than five feet tall – get in free.
What’s it like? Imagine the biggest garage sale you’ve ever seen and then envision it stretching into infinity. There is a nominal sort of organizing principle but it’s pretty much every man for himself. At one booth you’ll find stacks of diabetic socks, ovens and washers at the next. Do you need granite tile? Tires? Mattresses? Water dispensers? Piles of coconuts? They’re all here (although you’ll want to bring a van or pickup truck if you require all of the above). So too are religious icons, Mexican wrestling masks, vitamin supplements, pots and pans, rabbits, old toys, shoes, logo merchandise, dried fruits, nuts, and more cell phone accessories than you can shake an iPhone at.
DirecTV is a major client, renting multiple booths throughout the mega-marketplace. Broadacres is either what one eyewitness called "the biggest collection of random crap I’ve ever seen" or a bargain hunter’s paradise – maybe both.
At the center of all this happy madness is a stage where bands perform on Saturdays and Sundays. The vast majority are Latin-themed acts such as Grupo D7, although a Metallica tribute band was featured on a recent weekend. A working knowledge of Spanish does come in handy at Broadacres, more for reading signage than for doing business.
Built in 2008-09 on the site of some dilapidated apartment buildings, Broadacres grew again in 2010. A trailer park was torn and the acreage was repurposed for the bandstand and food court. Combined with a large livestock shed (minus the livestock), they form the core of the swap meet. Needless to say, the shaded stalls in the main structure are the prime real estate within Broadacres’ 1,150 vendor spaces.
All that walking and retail therapy is more than sufficient to make you work up an appetite. Fortunately, Broadacres has seven major eateries, five beer stands, four churro carts, three soda fountains and several dispensaries of various Mexican delicacies. Broadacres’ stated mission is to provide both vendors and customers with "a meeting place where they spend the whole weekend, feel safe and respected, and that is also fun for the whole family." After checking it out, we can report: Mission accomplished.
Photographs appear courtesy of Jennifer Prosser.
