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The gigantic
metal mesh of the Fremont Street Experience , completed in 1995,
stretches for four entire blocks of Fremont Street, from Main Street to Fourth.
Ninety feet high, this "Celestial vault" shades the pedestrianized street during
the day, but comes into its own at night.
Freemont Street's studded with over two million colored light bulbs,
which effectively turn into a giant movie screen. Specially designed
light shows are controlled by 121 computers, which run what are claimed
to be among the most complicated programs ever written.
Some
simply consist of colorful patterns; others transform the quarter-mile
length of Fremont Street into a virtual-reality theater. The spectators
below gasp, stagger and applaud as they're catapulted into space or
menaced by colossal swarming snakes. There's no plot or content, just
pure eye-catching spectacle and a blast of soft-rock sound; in essence,
it's an updated version of downtown's traditional neon signs.
Free performances of the Experience take place every night, hourly from
sundown until midnight and last six minutes. It's jointly sponsored by
ten downtown casinos, which turn off all their external lights while
it's happening. Each show lasts a mere six minutes; the idea is that at
the end you'll find yourself milling around on the street with nowhere
to go except into the nearest casino.
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