When done right, a city festival offers a unique experience that speaks to the heart of its urban surroundings. In the case of Life is Beautiful, much of this exists solely in its location within Las Vegas — rather than add to the glitz and fanfare of the Las Vegas strip, the festival takes place just a few miles north in downtown Vegas, sectioning off the famous Fremont Street and over 18 square blocks of Vegas’ classic, original townsite.
“I don’t think any festival in the country takes over 18 square city blocks,” says Allen Scott from Another Planet Entertainment, the company that assists in booking Life is Beautiful each year. He’s joined by Craig Nyman, the head of music and programming for Life is Beautiful Festival, who is similarly proud of the way the festival has transformed alongside downtown Vegas in the last few years.
This year, Life is Beautiful (taking place September 16th-18th) features three unique — and international — headliners. Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, and Calvin Harris lead 2022’s lineup, with several other major players set to perform like Lorde, Beach House, Kygo, Migos, and many more. With the slight exception of this year’s inaugural Primavera Sound Los Angeles (who’ve booked Arctic Monkeys to headline its final day), all three of these headliners are exclusive to American festivals, and they make for an incredibly exciting three days of music.
Each headliner was brought in for this reason alone: “It’s important to us,” Scott says, “We realize we’re a destination festival, with a large majority of people coming from outside the Vegas market. And so we need to bring something not only unique to Las Vegas, but unique to the festival market in order to get people to come to Vegas.”