Life is Beautiful has arrived!

The most anticipated and of course the most ambitious art, music, food and all out entertainment festival in Las Vegas History has finally arrived. In a matter of a few hours tens of thousands of festival goers, myself included, will be descending into the Downtown area for what is expected to be the grand dame of Las Vegas parties. Not even New Years on the Strip will come close to what is being planned in the real City Center of Downtown Las Vegas. Luckily the way to the festival is only 8 short blocks from my Downtown flat.

I haven't been this excited to attend a festival since my raving days back in the late 1990's when we would drive to Southern California to hit up the massive parties like Nocturnal Wonderland or Lollapalooza. Festivals that would bring out thousands of people to dance into the wee hours of the night. Of course Life is Beautiful is a completely different animal and experience. One that is rooted far beyond just music and includes all the other aspects that make life beautiful.

There is something to be said about the cultural maturity of a city when a festival of this magnitude can be executed right smack in the middle of an urban environment. As a cultural observer the profound impact that this event will have on our community will be incalculable in terms of culture. For a city that has struggled for a cultural identity outside of the late night lounge acts, "good-ole-boy" run town attitude and casino ascetic one can only imagine what the next ten years will be like for Las Vegas. The questions that are begged to be asked today are; Could this festival be the ultimate tipping point for Las Vegas' cultural scene? Could it change the ultimate rhythm of the heart beat of a community only known for it's dated "What Happens in Vegas..." marketing campaign? Only time will tell of course. But the good news is that we are here today to observe it, live it and be in it. So stay tuned for my next posts about the festival itself.

Culturally yours Paco...

For more information about Life is Beautiful please visit - http://lifeisbeautifulfestival.com/

Brian Paco Alvarez enculturating Las Vegas into the millennium...