Everyone aligns Las Vegas with fun and enjoyment. The demanding high life can consume every buck you have and even max your credit card if you are not careful. Some people tend to spend even their return ticket home! As the saying goes, to enjoy money, you have to use it. But do you?
What many folks don’t know, maybe including you, is that Vegas has many free shows that you can enjoy with equal measure and save a coin. These shows pack adrenaline and vigor that will leave you looking for the cashier’s counter so you can pay-they are worth it!
It is unimaginable to believe that these shows are free. From art shows to the circus display, the variety will have you gazing at the city’s incredible showcase of fun.
Best Free Shows in Vegas
1. Luxor Sky Beam
- Location: Luxor Hotel & Casino
- Hours: Nightly
- Rating: All ages
Vegas at night has the most breathtaking view and lighting shows that you have not seen. But the most iconic of all is the 39 xenon lamp light beam at the Luxor Hotel. It shines every night, and the lumens illuminate the sky straight up from the pyramid at Luxor. The ancient Egypt-themed hotel solidifies its association to the theme with the light.
The story is in ancient Egyptian times, the belief was that when someone dies, they travel to the sky through a beam of light. What’s better than to see history reincarnated in this display of history, culture, and technology?
If you wish to get the best view of the light beam, book a night helicopter ride in Vegas to get a topside bird’s view of the city and the lumens at Luxor. The brightest torch in the city is visible for over a 250-mile radius, so you cannot miss it. It is an enchanting attraction that will make you want to gamble away in the casino.
Worth mentioning is the statue at Luxor, the pyramid of Khafre located in Giza, Egypt. It is a work of art guarded by the Sphinx statue. This gives Luxor that ancient important feel that you don’t get in modern Vegas. If you value history, culture, and diversification, take a picture here as a memoir for your travels in Egypt.
2. Bellagio Dancing Fountains: Water Show
- Location: Bellagio Hotel and Casino (Flamingo Road and Vegas strip intersection)
- Hours: Monday-Friday: Every 30 minutes from3.00 pm-8.00 pm, and every 15 minutes from 8.00 pm to midnight. Saturday and Sunday: Every 30 minutes from 12.00 pm-8.00 pm, and every 15 minutes from 8.00 pm to midnight.
- Rating: All ages
The Bellagio fountains description is the most ambitious project ever in magnitude and complexity. Water shoots out to the sky to tunes curated in more tastes than your Spotify playlist. Every water jet shoots to the note of the playing song giving you that ahh and wow moment every time. The presentation is so flawless you can spend hours just staring at the water dances.
This free show is under a crew of 30 persons who clean and maintain the working of the artificial lake and the splashing display. Bellagio spared nothing in construction and investment in this 1,214 water jet marvel.
The lake features a massive water basin that can fill 2000 standard swimming pools. The jests can splash highs of 460 feet into the sky, a height equivalent to 24 stories of stone!
The illuminated dances are something breathtaking and a must-see show. Even for a repeat visitor, the different music curation from opera to EDM makes it a new experience every time.
Fountains are attached to love, as in Paris and Rome. Here at Bellagio, you can enjoy a romantic view of the largest fountains in Vegas for free. Make a date, bring a date-excuse the pun, but it rhymes-wink face.
Related Read: 6 Best Las Vegas Water Shows
3. Free Circus Acts at Circus Circus
- Location: Circus Circus Hotel and Casino
- Hours: 1.30 pm – 7.30 pm, Monday to Thursday; 11.30 am to 10.30 pm, weekend
- Rating: All ages
Vegas has many free attractions, but only a few can rival the circus show at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino. The performance is on daily at midday until late. Performances from circus troupes and single performers grace the Midway carnival to give you a free full adrenaline display.
Iconic shows are from the Ladder Man who does tricks with his ladder and a unicycle, aerial acts by the Argentinian performer Naira, and the Flying Poemas. Every hour features a different performer, so watching this show for hours is close possible.
Dubbed the world’s largest permanent circus, the Circus Circus show will make you appreciate the art of juggling and strength balancing once you see it up close. It is a nice weekend getaway as it closes late on weekends.
You can access the full schedule on their website to know which acts will be performing at what time. Add it to your to-do list when in Vegas, and you will live to tell the tale.
4. Aquarium Mermaid Show at Silverton
- Location: Silverton Hotel and Casino
- Hours: Thursday to Saturday at 12.00 pm-8.15 pm; Sunday at 10.30 am-6.45 pm
- Rating: All ages
From the shows you have seen on TV, mermaids are fictional and mythical creatures of the sea that enchant sailors into the deep waters. Well, hold on to your mast because this boat is taking you to see one.
Yes, a real mermaid in the flesh, smiling at you. Now don’t get enchanted and dive into the “shark-infested” water yet-relax and enjoy the sight of swimming mermaids on the coral waters of the Silverstone aquarium.
These good mermaids can even dance synchronously with a playlist! The mermaids of Silverstone have taken in many projects, including Project Mermaid with the Save Our Beach Foundation.
As one of the biggest aquariums in Vegas, it has 117,000 gallons of water and thousands of tropical fish swimming in it. It has corals and rocks that you want to see as they can only be found miles deep in the ocean.
The aquarium has three different species of Stingray (you can feed these at 1.30 pm-4.30 pm daily) and sharks that swim and breathe away-the sharks’ teeth are so sharp they bite your will to ever swim in the ocean again! A 500-gallon jellyfish aquarium at the mermaid lounge offers the best-LED jelly show you just need.
An 18,000-gallon water amassment at the Bass Pro Shops with live Koi is open-see the freshwater organisms and fish steering through the clear waters. Additionally, three aquariums at the Bass Pro Shops are on display with catfish, trout, and a channel river with ducks and sturgeon.
Related Read: Best Aquariums In Las Vegas Hotel
5. M&M World
- Location: Showcase Mall, next to MGM Grand
- Hours: Daily 10.00 am – 9.00 pm, and up to 10.00 pm on weekends
- Rating: All ages
Candy for everyone! Treat yourself and your kids to this tasteful chocolate experience at M&M World. The chocolate paradise packs four stories of wonder and marvel in candy and sweetness. You can personalize your chocolate with a name or a passionate message-whatever you like.
Entry is free, but the wares are for sale, so be ready to spend a buck if you want to take home something.
The place features 22 colors of the M&M, with candy dispensers to spoil your craving. Take a stuffed animal or a mug as a souvenir or as a gift to your little one back home. As icing to the cake (or is it chocolate on the candy), you enjoy a ten-minute 3D movie show about chocolate candy M, and later sight of the M&M World sponsored race car-Toyota Camry.
This is a perfect place for all candy lovers, and if you are a sweet tooth, remember not to be bankrupt at this haven of cocoa.
Editors note: As the impact of covid-19, the M&M’s movie experience is temporarily closed, so please check before attending.
6. Viva Vision Light Show
- Location: Fremont Street, Downtown Las Vegas
- Hours: Nightly, 6.00 pm-2.00 am
- Rating: All ages
Everyone who visits Vegas wants to go to the strip. The truth is, as much as the strip has a large buffet of fun and class, downtown Vegas has more pie too. The crown jewel of downtown Vegas is Fremont Street.
Being one of the oldest places in Vegas, it packs both history and modernity that you find nowhere else. Fremont Street’s most beloved feature is the Viva Vision Light Show, famously known as the Fremont Light Show.
The show features the largest single digital screen display worldwide at 1375 feet in length, covering over four street blocks. The show lasts about six to eight minutes and features trending and headlining songs. It is like a live billboard, only more exciting and involved.
A recent upgrade saw a $32 million budget get pumped into the rejuvenation of the display to feature a more modern and extravagant sound system. These guys are way over the top because the experience was already bewildering with no upgrade, and you want to miss the sight of what $32 million looks like?
7. Streetmosphere
- Location: Grand Canal Shoppes, Venetian Hotel, and Casino
- Hours: Daily, 10.00 am to 10.00 pm
- Rating: All ages
Italy is known for two things-food and fashion. They have a rich and respected culture, and many designers around the world borrow from the design works of these folks. No wonder they battle the French with the sexiest people in the west.
Instead of booking a plane to Rome, why don’t you land yourself a taste of the culture at the Grand Canal? Featuring fashion and craft, Italian culture is reincarnated right here in Vegas, and you get to see it for free!
The 15-minute display has musicians, singers, actors, among others, that put up the show to showcase the rich heritage of the Italians. Before breaking the bank with an overdraft to Italy, check out this attraction, and you may get what you need in adrenalin without paying a dime.
8. CBS Television City Research Centre
- Location: MGM Grand
- Hours: The show is temporarily closed
- Rating: Depends on the show
Supergirl, How I met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds; what do these renowned television bangers have in common? These iconic shows that you love (if you don’t, definitely your neighbor does) are productions of CBS Television.
They have a research center in Vegas at the MGM where they depend on folks like you to rate new shows and upcoming pilots. They have a 30-minute show that runs all day, where you see the “premier” of shows that are soon to be on cable at home.
After seeing the show, you fill a questionnaire with your honest evaluation of the showing. CBS uses this information to customize the films into something you will love. You are awarded coupons for snacks and merchandise as a thank you for your contribution. The show is pretty decent, and you can rest up watching before extending your excursion of the free Vegas offers
9. Fall of Atlantis
- Location: Forum Shops, Caesars Place
- Hours: The show is temporarily closed
- Rating: All ages
When King Atlas is caught in rough waters deciding who to take the throne of Atlantis between his two children, the succession battles begin. Each of them wants the throne to themselves, and their spoilt upbringing does little in the way of help. They seek to tear each other apart and the kingdom they want to lead along with them. When the gods are involved, Atlantis falls.
The story is told with animatronic sculptures that breathe fire and water, a fight actuated by the statues moving, and a 20-foot dragon breathing fire. You don’t want to miss this spectacle of historical injustice and war. It is a good entertainment spot for you and your family when in Vegas. It gets packed, so better come early and catch a glimpse of the medieval wars.
If you survive the war, take time to see the roman architecture that surrounds Ceasar’s palace. The fountains, designs, and statues are refreshing to the soul and a marvel of design that history teaches.
Worthy Mentions for Free Shows in Vegas
While there are many free shows and attractions in Vegas, not all areas pump as the paid ones. Just because you are getting something for free doesn’t mean it has to be trash. That will be time wasted, and you came to Vegas to enjoy yourself.
So what other shows are worth looking at in Vegas? Here is a list of a few of them that made the list as being worth paying for:
10. Lake of Dreams
- Location: Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino
- Hours: Daily from 8.00 pm to 12.00 am
- Rating: All ages
The experience at the lake of dreams at Wynn’s features a huge 3-acre lake with a 90-foot waterfall and 1500 pine trees to blend. The background of the waterfall has 5500 LED lights that grant that spectacle of a dreamy sight.
The show has puppetry, world-class sound directed by Emmy Award winner Kenny Ortega and amazing lighting that surpasses most light shows in Vegas. This complimentary attraction is a must-see as you sip some cocktails with a loved one.
11. The Indoor Rainstorm Show
- Location: Miracle Miles Shops, Planet Hollywood
- Hours: Shows every hour from Monday to Thursday at 10.00 am-11.00 pm; every 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday at 10.00 am-11.00 pm
- Rating: All ages
The reincarnation of a storm in the city is a perfect escape if you enjoy natural phenomena. This show features rain, fog, thunder, and lightning associated with storms.
The sounds are so realistic they want to make you do something to your pants. It makes you appreciate the working of a storm, and the science behind it is out of this world for anyone, leave alone nerds. Take caution as the thunderstorms are very realistic and may frighten a child.
12. Live Fashion Show
- Location: Fashion Show Mall Las Vegas
- Hours: Friday-Sunday from 12.00 pm-5.00 pm
- Rating: All ages
Live mannequins? Oh yes, at the fashion show mall, people showcase their clothing lines using live presentations in the mall’s lobby. The models are so talented, and you may mistake this showing with a Vogue magazine shoot. Be ready to see Paris in Vegas, as the designs are top-notch, and your wife will want some, so prepare your wallet. It is a good afternoon getaway as you embark on a shopping spree.
13. The Flamingo Wildlife Habitat
- Location: Flamingo Hotel and Casino
- Hours: Monday-Sunday from 7.00 am-8.00 pm
- Rating: All ages
Escape the buzz and hustle of the city and immerse yourself in nature at the Flamingo wildlife habitat at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. The habitat spans over four acres, with streams, trees, waterfalls, and streams to give that feel of a trip to nature. Flamingos, exotic waterfowls, and brown pelicans are some of the special sights you will notice in the garden.
The streams have fish and Koi that you can see swimming in the clear garden water. This is a free experience, and you don’t have to make a reservation. And they said the city knows no peace-they ought to visit this jewel in Vegas.
14. Downtown Container Park (Flame Throwing Praying Mantis)
- Location: Fremont Street
- Hours: Monday to Thursday at 11.00 am, 10.00 am-1.00 am on Friday, 11.00 am-1.00 am on Saturday, 11.00 am-8.00 pm on Sunday
- Rating: All ages
A giant sculpture of a praying mantis outside the container park is breathtaking. It brings out the tale of how the insect is depicted as dangerous in its hunting and defense techniques. The dragon insect has flame throwers on its antennae which makes him look super cool.
The structure of the container park is a genius to watch too. The developer stacked a dozen containers and turned them into building units. You can have a drink at the bar, listen to live bands play, and do a ton of other things you can do here.
15. Vegas Whiskey Experience
- Location: Spirits and Spice, Venetian Hotel and Casino
- Hours: Nightly at 7.00 pm
- Rating: 21+ (Alcohol served)
If you want to sample the best spirits in Vegas, why not visit Spirits and spice for that tot of whiskey to stimulate your muscles?
It is free, sweet (not to the mouth), and exhaling to get a taste of the high-end quality wine, oils, vinegar, and spirits on offer at this shop. Participants get discounted prices so that they can take home whatever strikes their taste buds.
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Free Shows in Las Vegas: FAQs
Are All Free Shows Family-Friendly?
Free shows are open to the public and therefore have no age restrictions. They are family-friendly, and you can bring your kids along to enjoy them.
Can You Get in Vegas With No Money?
Yes and no. Yes, you get in and around Vegas watching free shows and enjoy yourself, and no, because you will have to use some money for transport, food accommodation, etc. So the correct wording should be if you can travel to Vegas on a budget. Then the answer now becomes a clear yes.
What Time Are Free Shows in Las Vegas?
It depends on the show, with most starting at midday and ending at 7.00 pm. Check with the specific show to see the allotment and plan your time accordingly.
Final Words
The sin city is known for prestige, luxury, and comfort, all of which spell out the word money. But can you travel to Vegas and enjoy shows without spending all that cash? Yes, because Vegas has a parade of free shows and attractions that you can enjoy. They vary so you will not lack a show that strokes your adrenaline.
Explore the different art, shows and acrobatics, singing, and experiences in the city without talking to the cashier. These free shows will grant you peace of mind and give you ample time to enjoy the site visiting as you are not worried about finances anymore.
In a nutshell, Vegas free shows are the angel you have been waiting to rescue you. Now you can buy that Tesla car you were saving up for and still enjoy the unparalleled experiences of the City of Vegas. You cannot afford to miss these marvelous free shows that you will pay for in other cities. It is a win-win for you and your wallet.