This Weekend | Debut Life Is Beautiful Festival In Las Vegas

This weekend the inaugural Life Is Beautiful Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday at various venues and on the streets of Las Vegas. Among the acts on the eclectic lineup are Beck, Pretty Lights, Alabama Shakes, Portugal. The Man, Haim, Dawes, STS9  and Passion Pit. Not only is Life Is Beautiful about music, but organizers have also put together a “Culinary Village” featuring food from over 50 restaurants, culinary demonstrations and workshops. There’s also “Alchemy Gardens” for those over 21 with flight tastings with master brewers, wine makers and distillers

The event was put together by founder Rehan Choudhry under a partnership with the Downtown Project that had allowed Choudhry to make use of Downtown Las Vegas. Many streets in the area will be closed to traffic as various stages and installations will be set up. “I wanted to create a festival that had multiple categories. In this case, it’s music, art and learning and I wanted to really speak to each category. The idea is if you’re a foody and you love food and wine festivals and you don’t know anything about music, art or learning, this is a festival for you,” said Choudhry in a statement.

Choudhry left the musical bookings up to Another Planet Entertainment, who have an impressive history of putting together festivals such as Outside Lands and Treasure Island. There are a number of acts on the bill who haven’t toured much in 2013 such as Alabama Shakes and Beck. Another interesting, “Only In Las Vegas,” aspect to the event are performances from Cirque du Soleil including mini-sets from The Beatles Love and Michael Jackson One that will take place in the middle of Fremont Street. A variety of ticketing options are available through the Life Is Beautiful website.