Question of the Day - 06 February 2015

Thanks, and seeing as you're being so charming, how could we not answer your request (which, actually, we've been compiling for weeks, so we're glad somebody asked!)

We don't know if we're experiencing an outer ripple of the Macau effect, but Las Vegas seems to be going extra-large with its Lunar New Year celebrations in 2015. The Year of the Sheep/Lamb/Ram/Goat commences on February 19 and will be celebrated through the end of the month (and beyond), with traditional dragon dances, parades, food specials, concerts, festive displays, casino promos, and more. Here's the lowdown, so far, on everything we know about:

• The Annual Chinese New Year in the Desert/Las Vegas Spring Festival takes place at The LINQ Promenade on Feb. 20-21, featuring dozens of art & craft exhibitors, food vendors, non-profit organizations, and cultural groups.

• McDonald's will once again host the Las Vegas Spring Festival Parade downtown on Saturday, Feb. 21, around 4th Street and Gass Avenue (expect road closures and diversions). The parade is a celebration of community featuring extravagant and colorful floats.

• The Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts presents SHEN YUN 2015 from March 2-4. If all goes according to plan, as a gong strikes, sounds from 5,000-year old-Chinese instruments will rise to blend with a 40-piece Western orchestra, while sixty dancers take the stage in front of a 30-foot-tall video backdrop that takes the audience on an adventure back to long-ago dynasties (or at least that's what the official blurb says). Tickets are on sale now, starting at $50.

• Chinatown Plaza on Spring Mountain Rd. always hosts the biggest celebration, which this year takes place Feb. 22 and features multiple pan-Asian food vendors, dragon and lion dances, martial arts and acrobatic displays, fortune tellers, arts & crafts, and more. General admission is $3 adults/$1 children, and includes a gift to take home.

• The Cosmopolitan has many events taking place (see below), including hosting Lucky Cat in the resort's pop-up space (just off the Strip). The art exhibit features a nine-foot-tall rendition of the familiar good-fortune talisman designed to reward the curiosity of those who dare to stop and explore by dispensing a fortune card to all who place their hand on its paw. For a select few, this fortune will function as a golden ticket to a range of experiences at The Cosmopolitan. Visitors (must be 21+) can interact with Lucky Cat from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

• On Feb. 21, Venetian features best-selling Hong Kong Pop R&B sensation TANG Tsz-Kei, known as G.E.M. ("Get Everybody Moving"), performing G.E.M. X.X.X. LIVE, but this appears to be a by-invitation-only event, so you can't purchase tickets.

• SLS Las Vegas is running the Fortune Cookie Mystery CODEplay promotion to celebrate Chinese New Year, with mail recipients, as well as guests who have made a $10 ADW or higher in the last 90 days, able to select one fortune cookie each for a chance to win up to $1,000 in CODEplay. Fortune cookies must be selected between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the podium near 800 Degrees Pizza.

• M Resort will usher in the Lunar New Year with festive décor throughout the resort, including customary welcome banners, orange trees adorned with lucky red envelopes, and Chinese lanterns on display. Studio B Buffet will serve a variety of Asian favorites beginning Thursday, Feb. 19 through Wednesday, Feb. 25.

• The Gold Coast has long been a favorite with Asian players and has its usual array of promos this year (scroll down for a full schedule of Chinese Dragon Dances taking place at casinos and elsewhere). On February 20 and 27, Lucky Money drawings will be held every hour from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. Eight winners each hour will take home $200. On Saturday, February 28, the What’s in Your Fortune Cookie? promotion will give away between $5 and $500 when guests earn 300 points between 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

  Additional special events at the Gold Coast and Orleans sister property include a Calligraphy and Painting exposition on Feb. 26 at the former in the Gold Coast Showroom (free to attend) and on Saturday, Feb. 28, a performance by HeNan’s dance troupe in the same venue (8 p.m., $20). On Wednesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. the Orleans Showroom hosts the Chinese New Year Festive Gala with performances by the Guangxi Song and Dance Theater. Tickets start at $15.

• As is customary, Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens is celebrating the Year of the Goat with a vibrant display that features a centerpiece mountain with a family of five animated goats atop, plus lanterns, pagodas, bonsai trees, gold and I-Ching coins, and a pond filled with live koi. There are live music performances by the Las Vegas-based Beijing Trio from 4:30 p.m.–6 p.m. nightly and the exhibit is on display through March 15.

• The Atrium display at Palazzo features three hand-sculpted life-size rams, plus eight sheep adorned with fleeces comprised of fresh carnations. Six-foot-tall hand-loomed lanterns are suspended from the ceiling, with additional auspicious touches, including I Ching coins (also to be found around the Lalique statues in the lobby). The Year of the Goat installation will be on display through March. 1. In addition, The Knuttel Gallery in the Grand Canal Shoppes is honoring the tradition of mentioning "San-Tang-Tai," ("Three Goats [or Sheep] Start Fortune") by offering a limited-edition giclée print of Graham Knuttel’s famous painting "Keeping Watch" with any purchase of $500 or more.

• The Forum Shops at Caesars is currently home to a 22-foot-long, 6-foot-wide, and 12-foot-high dragon. Located on the Fortuna Terrace (near the interior entrance from Caesars' casino), the massive 950-lb steel-framed dragon is covered in 30,000 red and amber flickering LED lights and will be on display throughout the Chinese New Year celebratory season.

• Wynn's atrium is adorned with Chinese-inspired floral and sculpture displays, including more than 8,000 red and yellow chrysanthemums, silk dragons, and 8-foot-tall golden dragon sculptures. Gilded snake statues are also on display in the Atrium and near the Baccarat Room in Encore, where other symbols of good fortune can also be found.

TRADITIONAL DRAGON & LION DANCE SCHEDULE:

For which casinos will be offering commemorative "lucky" Year of the Sheep casino chips, see Question of the Day 1/21/15.

It remains for us only to wish a very Gong Xi Fa Cai to our Mandarin readers, and Gong Hey Fat Choy to all the Cantonese-speaking fans of Question of the Day, who we're pretty sure are legion.