The first-ever Rock in Rio USA music festival, which is starting this weekend and ending on the next, is the latest to join an expanding music festival scene in the United States. In Las Vegas, festivals have become a regular feature. The Electric Daisy Carnival has been attracting electronic music fans for almost twenty years, the Route 91 Harvest Festival filled an entire lot across from the Luxor Hotel with country music stars last fall (and returns in October), and Life is Beautiful has been transforming downtown Las Vegas into a celebration of art and entertainment. Besides lots of great music, the Rock in Rio USA festival will also feature a giant Ferris wheel, zip-line course, dancers, magicians, cartoonists and fortune tellers. It will be located on a 37-acre lot on the Las Vegas Strip. Cirque du Soleil will kick off the festival Friday with death-defying stunts and multi-colored pyrotechnics. The transformation of the Las Vegas Strip lot into a festival site has cost about $75 million, including the $20 million land-owner MGM Resorts spent with partners Cirque du Soleil and The Yucaipa Companies to install plumbing and electricity. Approximately 130,000 tickets had been sold between the two weekends. The festival starts Friday and Saturday with headliners Metallica and No Doubt, returning May 15 and 16 with Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift. Tickets cost $169 each day or $298 for each weekend.
