LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The highly anticipated Life is Beautiful festival is returning, but this year's event will be remarkably different.
This year, it's called Life is Beautiful presents: A Big Beautiful Block Party.
Channel 13's Abel Garcia found out what festival-goers can expect from this new format and how the community is reacting to these changes.
It's official: Life is Beautiful is returning to downtown Las Vegas, but this year, both the location and size will be different.
"Are you going to go this year?" Garcia asked.
"No, I will not be going this year," said Ida Tajalli.
Tajalli has been a regular attendee since the inaugural Life is Beautiful Festival in 2013 and said she always looks forward to the event.
However, this year she's not as enthusiastic.
"I always thought of Life is Beautiful as like a Vegas Coachella locally, and now to hear that it is a Vegas block party and two days, I feel like it defeats the whole thing," she said.
The event, now called the Life is Beautiful Block Party, is scheduled for Sept. 27 and 28 at the Plaza property.
Spanning 10 acres, it will feature two stages with no overlapping sets.
The Life is Beautiful team describes it on their website as "a unique return to our roots, a more close-knit and affordable experience in a vibrant new neighborhood."
However, Tajalli said she is not on board.
"Instead, I will be attending Portola in San Francisco because it's during those dates," she said.
For the past 10 years, the festival spanned 18 blocks of downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street. Tajalli said that this it time it won't have the same impact.
"I think it is a big down size to our economy and local businesses and vendors and artists," she said.
The Life is Beautiful team said that his block party isn't a replacement for the original festival but a new way to continue the tradition. They assure fans that they are dedicated to re-imagining and evolving the festival for future years.
Tickets for the two-day event are starting at $199, and the full lineup will be released on Tuesday, June 25.
