Fremont Street Performers Can Register Online or In Person, New Ordinance Takes Effect Nov. 16

A new Las Vegas City ordinance takes effect on Nov. 16, 2015, and street performersalso known as “buskers”can register online to perform in designated performance spaces along Fremont Street Experience.

The new ordinance was created to ease congestion and assure public safety along the busy Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall, and was created by the City of Las Vegas with input from The American Civil Liberties Union, Fremont Street Experience and the performers themselves.

Performance Circle1
The performance circles are six feet wide. They’ll have letters and numbers to differentiate them.

Street performers interested in using the new performance spaces, marked by chip-shaped circles on the ground at Fremont Street Experience, can register online in advance of the first space “lottery” to be held Monday, Nov. 16, to reserve spaces for Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Performers can register by clicking “Street Performer Registration” in the top right corner of the city’s Web site.

Enforcement of the new ordinance is set to begin Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015.

An online random lottery is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. on Nov. 16.

A total of 38 performance spaces will be available for use.

Performance Circle2
A self-stick performance circle being installed. Our epic mall operations guys for scale.

Performers will be randomly assigned spaces for use for two hours intervals between 3:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. Each performer who wins a space will be assigned a QR code that corresponds to the location and time they’ll be using the space.

A new lottery will be held each night for spaces for the next day, and results will be posted online.

In addition, performers can also register in person at a booth that will be open from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily. The performer registration and information booth is located at Third Street and Ogden Avenue.

Street performer registrations are valid for 180 days, and may be done anonymously.

While street performers are a part of the downtown experience, they’re not screened or employed by the City of Las Vegas or Fremont Street Experience. The new ordinance won’t impact the kind of “expressive activity” of the performers. The new ordinance does, however, address and limit the maximum noise level of performers.

Performance Circle5
One of the volume meter thingys, which we’re pretty sure isn’t the technical name.

Guests often don’t realize street performers can’t charge a fee or demand a tip for their performance (including for photos taken with a costumed character). Tipping is completely voluntary.

More detailed information about the City’s new Fremont Street Experience performer ordinance is available at the official City of Las Vegas Web site.

Street Performer
Many downtown Las Vegas visitors love the street performers at Fremont Street Experience, and they’re not going anywhere.

We think the City of Las Vegas ordinance will be a big step toward improving the atmosphere at Fremont Street Experience, and we’re committed to doing our part in making the Fremont Street Experience mall a safe, enjoyable destination for the millions of people who visit downtown Las Vegas each year.

47 responses to “Fremont Street Performers Can Register Online or In Person, New Ordinance Takes Effect Nov. 16

  1. Hopefully this will filter out the losers who just show up in a thong and expect a hand out and make more room for people who have actually taken the time to develop an act.

    1. Either fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon one’s perspective, the new ordinance doesn’t impact the content of the “performances.”

  2. I have been to Other cities in north America where they hold week long Busker Festivals. With performers coming from all over the world. Freemont St would be a great place for this. I have seen some pretty good street acts in LasVegas, but wouldn’t really consider an old man in a thong or someone in a dirty Spongbob smear-pants costume looking for handouts Buskers.

  3. Michael Moore, you are a piece of work. It isn’t unconstitutional you liberal a$$. They are still allowed to express themselves.

  4. I do realize the buskers & other performers in costume live on tips – but being told to go *F* ones self after taking a photo but not tipping – really is priceless… Had 2 that were in pirate garb on Fremont being jerks that way… I am disabled & on a pension – can’t afford to tip but was trying to find an ATM so I could tip – but not with behavior like that… I blog & comment on sites like these giving reviews – aka free advertising for these wonderful ambassadors of Las Vegas… Might just want to keep that in mind when telling someone to go *F* themselves over not tipping – I have the photo of these 2 persons & it will be shared along with the commentary… Hmmmm… Just something to think about…

    1. Completely agree, and that behavior is completely unacceptable. As you may know, street performers are in no way affiliated with Fremont Street Experience. They are not Fremont Street Experience employees, nor are they screened or trained by Fremont Street Experience. As you can imagine, we want to do what we can to create a fun, safe environment on Fremont Street, although we can’t control the behavior of buskers. Tipping is completely optional, and refusing to tip should not have the kind of repercussions you mention. Sorry to hear about your incident, and we’re working closely with the City of Las Vegas and law enforcement to do what we can to avoid situations like the one you describe. Thanks for sharing it.

  5. this is bullshit .

    the lottery is rigged . They give you a shitty time slot in a shitty location or no location at all .

    Then say its full up when i see half the spots still open at 9 pm . total bullshit . It should just be first come first serve . Who ever gets a spot first gets that spot. period . For the rest of the night too

    you’re being duped people by fremont street casinos $$$$$

    1. Um, OK there, sassy. You’re venting in the wrong place. The ordinance pertaining to street performers is a City of Las Vegas ordinance. The lottery is random, and everyone has a fair shot. The City is attempting to make the street safe and visitor-friendly, and we hope you can find a way to work within the guidelines as they have significantly improved the environment of Fremont, although there’s no perfect solution that will please everyone.

  6. hi, i am busking in vegas in 2018. just a question what if you ignored the lottery whats the consequence? just a curiosity thing.

    1. It’s best to check with the City of Las Vegas on this, since it’s a City ordinance. There are citations issued, but the City can provide specifics.

    2. You can “busk” w/o registering but you just can’t stand in one spot. You have to continually move, more or less with the flow of foot traffic. This works out okay with someone who is impersonating a character (Elvis, Heisenberg, Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, Spiderman). You are not supposed to just stand (perform) wherever you want, that’s what those giant casino looking poker chips are for. If you’re not standing on a “chip”, I guess a cop or security can ask you to leave. In their (Chamber of Commerce) eyes, you could be a safety hazard, or interfering with the establishment you are standing in front of.

  7. Fremont Street is awesome, Street performances cool, could do away with the nudity…and the T-shirt vender is a RIPOFF! No prices displayed, can’t understand him next thing you know you are hold a $100 frickin T-shirt.

  8. I think more Sinatra love songs need to be sung some where in Las Vegas why not on Fremont street,I;d like to start out by singing behind a huge curtain so people hearing the songs cant see me,then when i come out htey will see that im black, and that will blow them away because i sing like Frank Sinatra really really well.

  9. Are there legitimate reasons for leaving the circle before time is up? How can it be known that a performer needs to pack up and leave.

  10. I think this is an awesome idea, except when people decide to set up their “Free” caricatures right next to my caricature booth that we pay a not cheap monthly rent for. This direct competition with rent-paying individuals should be illegal.

    1. You know what else should be illegal, Andrea, and probably is? Running a Caricature stand on Fremont St. and displaying Caricature samples by people who don’t work there or have been long dead. You know what else should be illegal, Andrea? Displaying Caricature samples done with all kinds of wonderful digital effects, with no way whatsoever of duplicating those results at your Fremont St. stand. You know what else should be illegal, Andrea? Displaying Caricature samples at your stand at the Stratosphere that took days, and then trying to pass them off as 5-minute Caricatures. I could bring up a few other things that might have been been illegal, too, but you’ll hear about that soon enough.

      Andrea, all the samples at my humble and very legal Fremont St. location are done by me and done within about 5 minutes per person and I’m actually able to draw like the samples you see on my stand. Can you say the same about your locations?

      Andrea, your husband Tielman can beg me to leave Las Vegas all he wants…I ain’t goin’ nowhere.

      Regards,

      Mike Warden
      Las Vegas Caricatures

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/19b324d2e948c5691d29f10176018021b6c31ca25bc57c63d9cbb11e0a26d81d.jpg

  11. I have a question…
    I see that freemont has these new ordinances and circles where performers stand… Thats pretty cool

    But i try more than a few times to register online and i tried at least 5 times and it keep telling me to put a password
    For some reason dosent want to complete registration which i find weird since it been 2 days trying already

    What ca. I do to fix this or register?

  12. i was on fremont street this weekend Sunday the 3-24-19 to be exact and there was and is a group of AROUND 5 guys saying they were on America’s Best Dance Crew, Americas got talent, it looks like they preform right n front of the White Castle and they do there little dances, THEN ask everyone in the audience for 20 bucks and walk around with their bag open, now once they have the money FROM THE WOMEN they take THEIR husbands out the crowd and line them up like they are going to jump over them and turn around and say to the husbands(or men) you can get safety by giving 20 dollars to not be tea-bagged. So in a nut shell NO PUN INTENDED they are HUSTLERS, they get the 20 dollars from the wives then try to get another 20 dollars from the husbands for safety of being tea-bagged. Fremont Streeet is an experience with people like that they ruin the experience. PLEASE EVERYONE IF YOU SEE 5 GUYS (THEY WERE IN RED WHEN I SAW THEM) THEY ARE SHORTER GUYS WALK AWAY OR GET HUSTLED.

  13. Sharing the photo of the 2 of them seems to be just as awful and sophomoric as what they did to you. It’s happened to me before, I LOL’d so strong and loud the echoes of it sounded like 🎅 Santa had arrived. You are the better person if you don’t sweat the small petty stuff & just let it go. Be #VEGASSTRONG 🏜️
    and, let the anger go. 🙏🙏🙏Please…? IJS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. * indicates a required field.

*