The Fremont Street Experience is a pedestrian mall and attraction in download Las Vegas. The FSE occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as “Glitter Gulch,” and also portions of other adjacent streets.

The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, which stands 90 feet high at its peak, and covers approximately four blocks. Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, so each show begins by turning off the lights on all buildings under the canopy, giving views of the FSE show the full effect of the lights.

Fremont Street has a storied history. It held many Las Vegas firsts, including the first hotel, first telephone, first Nevada gaming license, the first elevator, first traffic light, and the first high-rise. For many years, the western end of Fremont Street was the area most commonly portrayed whenever producers wanted to display the lights of Vegas.

The large number of neon signs earned the area the nickname “Glitter Gulch.” The Fremont Street Experience was conceived in the 1990s as a way to draw more people to the struggling downtown gambling area. 10 separate hotel/casino companies came together to offer the Fremont Street Experience, and it is now considered a city park.

In order to do something unique and original with the FSE, the city of Las Vegas paid architect Jon Jerde $900,000 to develop something spectacular. Jerde came back with a plan for a floating sky parade which was to be suspended from the canopy over Fremont Street.

This concept, though adored on paper, was quickly scrapped by the firm of Mary Kozlowski Architect, Inc. citing that various problems would arise should Jerde's design be built. Among the problems were a wind tunnel which would be created with the canopy overhead, and sand accumulation, causing electrical systems to fail.

Kozlowski, who spotted the problem, was now in charge of correcting it. She designed a new concept which would create a light show on the underside of the canopy - the same light show seen today by millions. Set to be the world's largest and most spectacular light show, Jon Jerda and Peter Smith, vice-president of Atlandia Design, embraced the concept.

Kozlowski's concept was to use a combination of four-colored bulbs per light, which allowed a full spectrum of colors. To correctly construct a project of this magnitude, the FSE canopy was built using a series of panels which workers would check regularly to ensure that all bulbs were working properly.

The first New Year's party was held on December 31st, 1995. In 1996, the Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience opened. Salvaging vintage neon signs from Vegas bone yards, the signs are being restored and place along the FSE. In the early 2000s, permanent stages were built into the FSE, eliminating the need for temporary stages for every event, and the sound system received a state-of-the-art upgrade in 2001.

In 2004, a $17 million dollar upgrade of the FSE featured 12.5 million LED (light-emitting diode) lights were installed, able to display a vast variety of color displays.