Life is Beautiful Festival

This festival WAS amazing, until they announced on their twitter that they were no longer going to be in and out privileges. For this years festival those privileges were now reserved for VIP. Those of us that are not loaded with cash are being treated like trash. The GA population is who makes the festival. They are the ones that buy your drinks, food and merchandise! What was amazing amount this festival was this sense of inclusion. You didn’t have to shelve out hundreds of dollars like you do at Coachella. This festival’s mission was to re-​vitalize DTLV now they have made it into another money hungry festival that only cares about dollar signs.

Such a great vibe. Great art installations. Friendly crowds. Great selection of food. Imagine Dragons and Snoop Doug were amazing!
Worth the price & visit to Vegas for this! Great excise to visit old Vegas too!

Favorite festival experience (s) by far. Attended both 2014 and 2015 weekends.
I love how the festival is in the old strip of Vegas. That part of Vegas is pretty tacky and got its own crowd of people but nonetheless its unique and got its own thang goin on. Admission is relatively cheap for considering the lineup and other festivals. but who knows, LIB is only 3 years old — things may change for the years to come. but I really hope not.
LIB 2014 was in late October. weather wasn’t extremely hot. Totally bearable. For some reason, LIB 2015 was moved to late September. which made a huge difference in weather. It was balls to the walls hot hot hot! Not too sure what 2016 will bring. Hopefully they move it back to October.
2014 experience probably trumps the 2015. Although the 2015 was pretty good in itself! The only difference (s) would be that insomniac is now in cohorts with LIB and that the main stage is divided into sections (which i don’t like). In 2015 I found out that the front half of the section was dedicated to VIP only. pretty much sucked because just a year ago we were able to see kanye west, outkast, and foo fighters at that very spot with general admission… that was the only the big downside of 2015 compared to 2014.
2014, there were tons of activities to do! Lots of art showcased as well. I loved the layout of the main stage in 2014. There was an «aisle» right down the middle of crowd. Lots of vip people were able to walk down that aisle. I remember being at an arms reach of the Weeknd, 2 out of 3 Kardasians and mother effing Dave Grohl because of that aisle. Pretty much did LIB 2014 from when it opened till the last performance. It was great. 2015 was a bit different. Being older and more tired — I attended everyday mid-​day and left after the last performance… the heat was also a big factor why we’d leave so late in day.
2015, since insomiac was a part of it this year, there was a lot more edm going on. Kinda upset about that, but that scene is starting to grow on me. Hopefully for the next years to come, they can keep a good balance of all genres of music. In 2015, they had a «cooling area» — which is basically an abandoned building with no furniture but for people to just hang out and cool off from the Vegas heat. Fun fact: In 2014, that cooling station was a place for local Vegas students to showcase their art…
Food is pretty amazing here. Tons of variety. Both food booths and trucks were on point.
Both years were pretty solid. I would definitely go again in 2016 — but I am cutting down on the music festivals… for I have attended too many in ²⁰¹⁴⁄₂₀₁₅.
Life is indeed beautiful.

I went to Life is Beautiful the first year it opened in 2013, and it was an incredible experience. Granted it was cheaper back then than it is now, but I saw so many amazing artists in the span of 2 days, and got to try so much wine and food.
The artist line up was incredible. It included Imagine Dragons, the Killers, Kings of Leon, Passion Pit, Janelle Monae, HAIM, Zedd, Pretty Lights, and so much more.
There was wine tasting available and a bunch of food stands too with really reputable chefs! It’s pricy (as you might expect with a music festival) but the food is actually really good.
Bring water to stay hydrated. Have an awesome time!

I may be late to the game, but the Life is Beautiful Festival is an experience not easily forgotten. In a stroke of miraculous luck, I won 3-​day GA tickets to LIB 2015 courtesy of Unilocal.Once again, Unilocal has shown that it’s neat to elite — Thanks Unilocal!LIB is a great music festival that has all the elements festival goers are looking for: a vibrant and positive energy, good food reflecting local culinary talent, and most importantly an eclectic set of bands and musicians. The summer heat was excruciating and three days filled with revelry was exhausting, but LIB is something that must be experienced at least once!
I attended LIB with a friend who purchased a parking pass for about $ 40. The pass is good for everyone in the car. Every time we arrived around 5pm, shuttles were lined up out front of the parking garage. The drive to the festival took less than 10 minutes and the shuttles were in tip top condition. I’d recommend carpooling and buying the shuttle pass to simplify the parking question.
Entry into the festival was a breeze. There was never a line. All you had to do was scan your bracelet at the gate and you’re good to go. Purses are searched but security makes this process quick and pain free. Unopened water bottles are allowed. Festival goers have reentry freedoms, so take advantage of nearby casinos for access to clean restrooms and local bars for cheap[er] alcohol.
The festival generally kicks off around 3pm each day and goes past midnight. Some musical standouts (for me at least) for the 2015 lineup included Lindsey Stirling, Twenty One Pilots, Hozier, Glass Animals, Carnage, and Snoop Dogg. I really liked the diversity at LIB, but I have to point out that there is zero rock, punk, or metal bands here. Guess it’s not the right scene? The Downtown Stage had the best visibility due to two large TVs/​screens installed and was the largest stage at the festival. I feel like improvements could be made to the other stages (like putting the TVs higher up so people in the back can see better and adding TVs to all stages). For the Snoop Dogg performance, I could not see anything. I’d say half of the thousands of people in the crowd couldn’t see anything. But hey, maybe those improvements will come in the future. These snafus are to be expected at large music festivals.
The food available at LIB is impressive. There are tons of food trucks to choose from representing Las Vegas’s finest (Yay Garden Grill!). There was also a couple of artificially turfed areas filled to the brim with legit food options from local restaurants who set up shop just for LIB (like Vegenation)! Craving sushi? You can find it at LIB! There was plenty of alcohol options to choose from as well. Beer, wine, fancy cocktails, and shots were all ready for the taking. Pricing is reflective of the usual festival rates. Water stations and fountains are set up throughout the event, so take advantage!
All in all, LIB is one kick ass festival. I hope Vegas keeps up the love for LIB.
Unilocal 100 CHALLENGE 2015: #255

Festival ends. Writes review one month later. Oops~
Hands down LiB was the best music event I’ve ever been, and trust me, I’ve been to plenty. The organizers of this event did a great job in terms of lineup, festival set up, food vendors, and ticket pricing! For the price you paid (LiB 2015 headliners were Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick effin’ Lamar, Carnage, Porter Robinson… need I say more?), you got 100x worth the experience. I paid $ 270 for all three days and it was amazing!
The festival was crowded but not packed (o0o0o throwing shade at Hard Summer and Coachella) so you had plenty of dancing room even up front. Especially for a petite person like me, if we’re standing shoulder-​to-​shoulder, back-​to-​back… all I will be able to see would probably be your shoulder… But here I didn’t have that issue! I didn’t even have a problem maneuvering from stage to stage!
Other Pros:
–festival lines never took too long; there were two entrances to the festival
–security was respectful and does not manhandle you
–plenty of water refill stations near and between stages
–art murals and decorations were spot on
–concrete! THIS FESTIVAL IS NOT AS DIRTY AS OTHER FESTIVALS #blessed Nothing worse than sweating all day and collecting dirt on your skin as you walk and dance!
Cons:
–I literally cannot think of one. Everything was amazing.
Parking costs $ 45 for the entire weekend but because the festival was located downtown, I just stayed at a nearby hotel (Plaza Casino) and walked there. In fact, most festival goers stay at the Plaza Casino and Hotel. It’s not great, but hey, it’s 10 minutes walking distance from the festival!
If I ever had the chance to, I definitely would come back. Highly recommend you attend LiB, you won’t regret it!

Thanks to UNLV I got the chance to go to LIB for the first time. It was a blast. So many artist and food vendors and art.
Day 001
I arrived a little early maybe 3 or 4. We got a meet up point and then started to explore. We ran into some food trucks and decided to taste some things. I got the lumpia from Oming’s. They were tiny but good. Then headed over to main stage to check out X Ambassadors. They were so fun and even brought out Dan from Imagine Dragons. After that I was a little hot so got some water and even some ice from the bar. I laid down in the grass where Milagro was a rested a little. Meet up with some friends and checked out some art and even did a little swinging on the blue and yellow swings by the twisted lemonade stand. We eventually made our way over to Ambassador stage for Lindsey Stirling. Before she came on I grab some more food from Truck U BBQ. I had the pulled pork and fries burrito. It was really good but also really greasy. After I ran over to meet some friends at Place. One of the only places with real bathrooms, however when i went on Friday the smelled like poop. Maybe a backup? Not sure. We then found a cool spot in the grass by Ambassador stage near the water station to relax and get a little drink on. There was a yogurt/​alcohol place which was very god but i totally forgot the name. There was also Gimme Some Sugar which had big birthday cake macaroons and sugar cookies. Just the sugar I needed to finish out my night. We finished out the night with Major Lazer and they were probably my favorite act the entire weekend.
Day 002
I wanted to go early and see Alessia Cara at 3 but didn’t our affairs in order in enough time. I dropped my friends off around 3:45 and went back to home base to take a nap. I was a little drained from Friday. After getting a little extra sleep and waiting for the sun to go away I made my way down to downtown. I started by heading over to the food! I was hungry. I decided to try Garden Grill which was my favorite food vendor. I had the cesar wrap and beer battered avocado tacos. The wrap was whatever but the tacos were the
!!! I liked them on facebook and gonna keep on eye out for them. My first artist this day to watch was Chance The Rapper. His set was cool. Good way to start the night. I made my way over to Troubadour stage to check out Jauz and What So Not. Jauz had a really cool set with awesome shark and game animation. What So Not was cool too. Like everyone else i made my way over to Snoop Dogg and started watching his set. Near the middle I think I was getting a contact high from all the weed so I needed to step out. I went to the street to get some air then said fuck it and grabbed an iced lemonade from The Lab I believe. I was a little down when they didn’t have any cotton candy left but I understand. Made my way to the end of Snoop and tried to make my way back to my friends and his set ended. I was stuck in a crowd and they wanted out. I had never felt so claustrophobic. I stood behind and pole and waited for it to be over. I made my way to Carnage to end day 2. #CHIPOTLEGANG
Day 003
SO. I’m not saying security sucks or anything but we made our way in with a bottle of Rum for the last day. Started the day by getting a bandanna from Toyota. They dipped in ice water which felt amazing on the hot day. We then checked out the Art Motel. What a wonder sight to see. Each room set up different and I even got a drone show to Mr. West. After we stopped by Twisted Lemonade to get some drinks to mix. Iordered the purple death. It a mix of all 3 flavors. So delicious. We then made our way to Walk The Moon. After this band we made our way back to Twisted to get more lemonade. There was a long line so I took the chance and ran to the bathroom at Place. It smelt a little better on the last day. I ran back and my friend had got me a refill, score. We walked and then seperated near the Wide Awake boat. I made my way to container Park to check out Kat Graham. I did not know before Vampire Diaries she was a back up dancer. She’s got some moves. Also while there i found panties on the ground. It must have got wild. I made my way back to Ambassador for Run The Jewels and Kygo. My friend hooked it up with a VIP pass. I laid in the grass and enjoyed me some music. My brother also got to come and enoy the last day with us. He gave me his card and asked to grab some beers. You would think VIP would be on it but this was not the case. I waited in a line and when I got to the front the guy walked away. No ill be back or just give me a moment. He just left. I was a little irritated but okay. He comes back and take some other guys order and is spilling booze and stumping around. WORST BARTENDER. He’s lucky the guy who order he took instead of mine bought my drinks too. I was then going to head to Kendrick but my friends got sick so we left.
It was a chill festival and I made it all 3 days proud of myself. Lets see who the headlines will be next year!

3^rd time’s the charrrr … Meh. I was able to go the past two years, and this year I got heavily discounted VIP tix. My experience at the 3^rd LIB was disappointing compared with the years past.
Trash — a little better this year, I could actually see workers picking up trash, though they seemed to disappear at night.
Culinary — nice representation of local spots. Expected a little more «famous chef» spots though.
The VIP culinary demo area was a little weird. I kinda felt bad for the folks doing the demo there, there just wasn’t enough people interested in the VIP area.
Art — Banksy! Art Motel! And some weird circus thingy in the Art Motel.
VIP — I expected more from the VIP area. It was lined with grass, and there was a bar. That’s about it. No good views compared with GA, no special perks. Not to mention the people in the Hyde Out kept throwing their drinks at us. Not worth it.
Music — I enjoyed Death Cab for Cutie, Stevie Wonder, Edward Sharpe, Glass Animals. When I heard about Insomniac and the Troubadour Stage, all I could think was «plz don’t make this into EDC!» Thankfully, they contained it to just that stage.
Learning — I didn’t stay too long for some of the speakers, but I liked The Venue and the fact that they even have this TEDx-​ish thing at the festival. However, like other’s have said, they should have given Bill Nye a different venue/​area to speak at. It just couldn’t accommodate all the people there waiting to see him.
I don’t think I’ll be going to next year’s unless there’s a super crazy musician/​band I wanted to see.

The Life Is Beautiful Festival definitely lived up to its name and made sure all its attendees say another side of downtown Las Vegas. There were amazing art installations and murals all over the venues which added a more unique culture than other music festivals. Every one was extremely friendly, affordable food and drink vendors, and numerous places where you could just lay down and chill. They added easily accessible and free water stations which is great since it was hot and staying hydrated at an all day event is so important.
The line up was out of this world and suits every type of music genre — from Kendrick Lamar, Stevie Wonder, Major Lazer, and Atmosphere to rising stars like Halsey, New Politics, Walk the Moon, and more.
The only thing that sucked was how big the venue was (even though it’s also a good thing since the festival was so huge with many headliners and stages). Just be prepared for a lot of walking, I wore my running shoes for all three days and it helped a ton. Be sure to check out all the small stations and music, there are definitely hidden gems out there.
Check out my adventures in this vlog:

I’m so damn old and out of touch with music and it’s festivals like this that make me realize it. I looked at the lineup for all three days and simply said, «who?» With multiple stages playing a variety of music over all three days I only knew a handful of bands and had only heard of a couple more. That being said, Life Is Beautiful made it really easy to have a really good time!
I loved the proximity to the city and the fact that ins and outs were permitted. Drinks and food too expensive inside the festival grounds? All good, homie. Roll into El Cortez and grab some cheap eats, play some video poker and steal some ice cold air conditioning. A couple times we even found shelter in Atomic with a view of one of the mainstages, cheap (er) drinks, a decent view and perfect sound from whoever was playing — not too shabby!
The musical highlights:
— Duran Duran: This was the one band that I was looking forward to seeing simply for nostalgia reasons and they did not disappoint.
— Weezer: Boring as all hell but damn, their set it hit after hit after hit. It’s like listening to the radio.
— Imagine Dragons: Not a fan at all but when a band is great live you have to give credit when credit is due. Being a local headliner was kind of charming too.
— Run The Jules: Recommended by a friend and they ruled. They were the one band that seemed genuinely excited to be playing in front of a big crowd. Most festival bands become jaded to thousands of fans, but not these guys… energy!
Stevie Wonder: No explanation needed. He’s Stevie Wonder.
The musical lowlights:
— Against Me: We know the singer has undergone a massive transformation and so did their setlist. Stayed for about twenty five minutes and didn’t hear one song that I knew or liked.
I’m pretty sure that LIB is going to be an annual pilgrimage for me and I highly recommend it to anyone with a musical bone in their body. Even if you’re not a fan of the bands, you’re sure to have an awesome time. Well done LIB organizers!

What makes life so beautiful?
Food
Art
Music
Independence (intoxication lol: p)
Learning
You
We had an amazing time at LIB 2015 and there is no doubt that we’ll be back! The 3 day celebration of life is held in the heart of historic downtown Las Vegas swimming in local murals and vintage culture. They block off half of downtown to decorate the festival grounds with cute messages on the asphalt and add stages, food stands, vendor booths, props, tents, swinging chairs and a ton of awesome photo opportunity areas. There’s food, music, dancing, art, learning, playing, & weirdness — lots of weirdness.
I never heard of LIB before I moved here, but it’s a big deal around here. Locals start talking about it and preparing for it months before it starts. This isn’t a festival just for locals; there are avid festival goers that fly in for the fun. However, LIB quickly gained a positive reputation with locals so you’ll definitely find the majority of them here! This celebration is a tad reminiscent of EDC but more similar to a more organized First Friday with a great variety of learning components, gourmet restaurant stands and famous headlining artists thrown in the mix. Plus it’s open to ALL ages, which I found amusing — baby carriages and booze make for an interesting mix. The famous downtown container park and a few of the restaurants and hotels within the festival quarters were also open to festival goers, opening up more covered options to explore instead of just walking around the streets. I also preferred using the clean air conditioned bathrooms at the container park versus the scary porta potties. There’s always a long line since there is only 2 — but for me, it’s worth the wait.
The overall average pricing on food and drinks were not a complete gouge — most food trucks had a flat fee of $ 10-​$ 16, most restaurant stands ranged from $ 7-​$ 15, drinks (non & alcoholic) ranged from $ 4-​$ 15; but I highly recommend that you take advantage of bringing in your own empty CamelBak because they have complimentary water stations — just look for the «Quench Buggy.» You are also allowed 2 (per person) 1 liter sized, factory sealed water bottles — freeze them to stay cool throughout the festival. It’s Vegas and it gets crazy hot. The festival isn’t too large, but there’s still a ton of walking to do if you plan on going back and forth to the stages; they post the stages as far as possible to prevent noise bleed. Comfy shoes and light clothing are highly recommended.
There were also a bunch of vendors handing out freebies:
* JUUL booth handed out free disposable electronic cigarettes & cell phone cases (fill out contact info first/​fake contact info)
* Toyota & Obsolete Industries collaboration handed out Life is Beautiful 2015 screen printed souvenir bags (fill out a survey first)
* The other Toyota booth handed out bandanas
* Lyft handed out «free first ride» cards with codes on them & also logo sweatbands
* 7-​UP stage handed out blinking green bracelets
* Nordstrom tent handed out free bags with Clinique makeup samples
* Free food samples from the cooking demos and from some food stands
Pros:
* Great variety of music: Rock, Indie, Pop, Alternative, Rap, Hip Hop, EDM, New school and old school! (Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Duran Duran, Hozier, Snoop Dog, Weezer, Major Lazer, Death Cab for Cutie, Porter Robinson, Metric, The Weekend, Robin Schulz, Lindsey Stirling, Clean Bandit, Audien — and that’s just naming a few)
* Sound quality
* Great local restaurant participation
* Diligent staff — they FOUND our lost jeep key!!! In a sea of impossible, one of the staff on cleaning duty picked up our key on the ground and returned it to lost and found safe and sound!!! Who does that?! I’m still in shock.
* Quick lines to get in (their scanning system is efficient)
* Lots of covered areas except for a couple stages
* Lots of downtown artists and local art on display
* People watching is spectacular
* Indoor areas with A.C. to escape the heat
* Ins & Outs — make sure to scan your bracelets on the way out
* Strong cell service (4G connection & reception)
* Charging stations in some of the businesses/​restaurants
Cons:
* Traffic in downtown is a nightmare while the festival is going on, they are not at all organized
* Parking– Early bird catches the free parking spots. If you’re late, you have to park further & pay more $ 20-​$ 25
* Weather — hot as hell *sweat*
* 1 of the stages «The Ambassador» was janky with no large screens for the audience standing further back
* Smells like sewage at half of the areas in the festival grounds
* Long lines for the food (trucks & stands)
* Security guarding the perimeter fence — I saw 3 people hop the fence and get away
* Some festival goers were high off their ass and acted like an ass. I have no problem with having fun, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like a complete douche. Ugh!

What a fun event! So much food and such good music! We had an absolute blast! The VIP tickets were great in that they had some close stage viewing areas and clean bathrooms but not much other perks than that. Plus finding the VIP area was a bit of a pain but once you’re there you’re good.
There were lots of vendors with free gifts. Toyota did a great job with their spot. We got all kinds of cool toys, light up bracelets/​rings and candy from them.

Life is Beautiful Festival is… BEAUTIFUL!!! Absolutely LOVED everything this festival offered and aimed to achieve!
Preface: not to sound like a festival snob, but I’d like to consider myself an experienced festival goer: been to Coachella ’15, Hard Summer ’15/​Hard DOTD ’14, Outsidelands ’14, FYF ’15, EDC ’15, etc… and this year was my 1^st time at LIB and I CANT WAIT TO BE BACK!
LOCATION — ⁵⁄₅ — takes place literally in the HEART OF DOWNTOWN LV! So exquisitely unique to any festival I’ve been to – you’re literally walking down the streets of downtown to get from stage to stage, surrounded by the vintage hotels/​motels with the neon lights shining bright. Where else can you enjoy Kendrick Lamar with a building in the horizon sporting a huge sign for «The D» (lulz)!? Container Park is enclosed within the festival grounds, which I quickly came to appreciate so, so much. Why? lemme tell you…
RESTROOMS — HALLELUJAH! 1,000,000/5 STARS! Maybe I shouldn’t reveal my secret to the world but if you don’t want to use a porta-​potty, USE THE RESTROOMS IN CONTAINER PARK! You also could’ve used the Western Hotel’s restrooms next to Troubadour stage as your friends waited in the air conditioned lobby! REAL TOILETS with General Admission tix that were actually clean!!! IS THIS REAL LIFE?! TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! Good luck finding this at any other festival without a mile long line! Also reaaaally appreciated how the porta-​potties next to the Main Stage (Downtown Stage) had lights above them so you can actually see while you’re inside. Can you tell I pee a lot?
FOOD/​DRINKS — ⁵⁄₅ — so much variety, and no matter where you were, drinks and food were just a short walk away. And MUCHOS GRACIAS LIB fest for allowing me to freely explore the grounds with my alchy so I don’t feel like a sheep herded in a beer garden! Any person who thinks food/​drinks were overpriced just didn’t look hard enough. Let me tell you about my secret, once again… GO TO CONTAINER PARK! The sausage place there offered a hot dog and beer combo for $ 8! A cup of PBR for $ 3! Big Ern’s BBQ had beer for $ 4 fresh from the tap! The Nobu stand next to Main Stage had sushi rolls for less than $ 10. I had 3 smoked salmon sliders from the EATT stand for $ 10 and got a raspberry lemonade for $ 3. MEANWHILE, Coachella is selling an ice cream filled donut for $ 10?!? — COME ON NOW! You can’t complain!
ALSO:
— they allowed RE-​ENTRY: walk out and get something to eat at fremont st if it’s cheaper!
— they allowed you to bring refillable plastic/​unopened water bottles & camelbacks — Bring in a frozen water bottle and as it melts, refill at the water stations for more cold water! F&^%, im genius.
PARKING/​TRAFFIC — ⁵⁄₅ — Free parking along the residential areas along Carson St. Parking structures offered cheap parking as well — heard Neonopolis had parking for $ 5. Traffic exiting the festival? ZERO, even tho we left at 1am each night.
ART & THE ACTUAL FESTIVAL GROUNDS — ⁵⁄₅ — No complaints regarding the distance between stages. Yea, vegas is a desert, but surprisingly there was a good amount of grass for people to lay down and chill. Never felt too crowded/​congested walking around. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL ART everywhere you look, from street art murals to the interactive ART MOTEL, blown up tentacles coming out of a building, the BANKSY TRUCK, people painting on huge canvases so casually, cute snapchat-​worthy quotes spraypainted on the floor, SO GREAT.
LINEUP & PRODUCTION — ⁵⁄₅ — honestly think the lineup for 2015 was ON PAR to Coachella standards — wonderful diversity in lineup, just not as much quantity of acts. Every act I saw was STELLAR. You can’t give a bad review based on how a performer performed… that’s out of the festival’s control. Never experienced any sound problems during performances, but I’ve heard people say otherwise. Stage set up was standard. Throwing dozens of illuminated beach balls among the crowd during Kendrick Lamar MADE MY NIGHT… it was just so…(surprise surprise)…BEAUTIFUL!
EXTRA THOUGHTS/​OVERALL — VERY surprised this festival didn’t sell out. Honestly think tickets were well priced for a 3-​day festival. Anyone who overlooked attending… the FOMO must’ve been real. There’s something for everyone here!
BONUS POINTS
— ALWAYS had 4G connection & reception! (w/​Tmobile)
— allows totems!
— FREEBIES! FREE life is beauitful bandana and life is beautiful logo tote bag that was FRESHLY screen printed at the Toyota tent! FREE Clinique makeup and tote bags from Nordstrom stand?! FREE shots of 7UP at Troubadour stage?! FREE vape from JUUL! FREE OXYGEN TO BREATHE!?? jk
By the end of the weekend, this festival truly poked some queso out of me cuz im srsly feeling like ~~Life is TRULY Beautiful~~.

This has got to be one of the best music festivals I’ve ever been to! I was amazed at how well organized and put together this event was. Other big name festivals should definitely take some notes from the organizers here!
Getting to the actual festival was a breeze! There little to no traffic as my group just walked or ubered to the venue!!! Upon arrival you just scan your wristband in and bam! Enjoy! I really liked that area space was big enough to hold all the stages, and small enough so you’re not walking 500 miles to see your next favorite artist. Having the festival within the heart of the city was great! The city lights surrounded the venue, and you really felt like you were part of an awesome party community! I mean c’mon, you’re in Vegas!!! They allowed ins and outs at the festival too which was a plus because you can always just go back to your hotel and take a nap or something. Ample amount of places to chill around downtown Las Vegas too!!!
I loved all the artwork and displays they had. Loved the WE HOT hotel sign, I see what you did there Western Hotel, I see what you did there… Haha there was so much good food too! And those areas had benches for people to hang out and enjoy their food. There was also hammocks too for a quick rest! They had full on legit bars inside the festivals as well, but like I said before you can always just step outside to go to your favorite downtown bar!
I think the best part of the festival was how knowledgeable the staff was. There’s been times when I would go to an event and ask for where the bathrooms are, watering stations, etc and the staff would not know which direction to point me to. I’m like. wait so where do you go to use the bathroom? THE FUDGE???
The artists that they brought in this year was STELLAR! A lot of throwbacks from Stevie Wonder, Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, and the list goes on! I don’t know if they stragtegically worked out the playlist, but the mix of artists was perfect and brought in an awesome crowd. You definitely don’t see a bunch of ravers going too crazy and constantly bumping into you because they can’t see straight like other festivals now. Well, I did get some of that rude rude action at the EDM stage, but that’s a given already. Sigh…
All in all, this was a great experience. I would totally come back no questions asked. Good music, and positive vibes! Everything was on point. To be honest, I really hope this festival doesn’t explode too big, cause I love it just the way it is right now! Big shoutout to Christine V. for convincing me to go! Thanks!

Big thanks to Unilocal and my fellow Unilocal elites for helping me win 3-​day GA passes! I had never really paid much attention to LIB in past years. But after hearing this year’s line-​up, I was definitely excited to be able to attend.
Parking and getting around was surprisingly easy. There wasn’t much traffic at all. Tip: Park in the City Hall parking garage. It’s pretty close to where the shuttle buses will drop you off if you park elsewhere. (So you’re not walking further.) Plus, it’s $ 9 max Mon.-Fri. and just a $ 3 flat rate on Sat. and Sun. (So cheaper than a shuttle pass or pretty much parking anywhere else.)
I have to admit, doing all 3 days was a bit exhausting. And we didn’t enter until late each day. And it wasn’t due to drinking too much either. Perhaps we’re just getting too too old. In the future, we will probably just choose one day and just get passes for one day.
I thought it was rather easily a 5-​star festival. James O. said 3 stars, primarily because he didn’t care for the lineup and thought the food and drinks were overpriced.
Pros:
— Great app! Easy to use and handy to have the schedule of everything at your finger tips.
— Easy entry and re-​entry.
— Plenty of water available. (Bring your own empty water bottle.)
— Mostly friendly staff.
— Good layout and mix of art, music, and food in all different areas.
— Great lineup.
— Loved that it was right in downtown and not in some isolated dirt lot area.
— For the most part, acts didn’t overlap each other, so you could easily stage hop and see every band you wanted to.
— Everything was on time! No tardiness or sudden changes.
— It was cool to be able to go into places, like some bars and the Container Park, that were actually inside the festival area. Tip: Take advantage of these areas as they have real bathrooms and not port-​a-​potties.
— Top chef food booths.
— So much cool art!
— All of the bands got pretty equitable time no matter where they fell in the lineup. (I’ve been to other festivals where bands in the middle of the day would only get like 20 minutes of stage time. Not the case here.)
— A good amount of rest and chill areas.
We had a total blast on day 1, when we arrived the earliest and had the least of a schedule. We just wandered around, tried all kinds of food, enjoyed some drinks, stopped at every booth, etc. It was a wonderful experience! Days 2 and 3 were more about the music with us hopping from one stage to another, which got to be pretty draining.
Cons:
— The Ambassador stage area had no large screens, so you couldn’t see the performers unless you were up close.
— The bigger acts at the Ambassador stage drew such a crowd that the area didn’t seem nearly large enough and/​or those acts should’ve been on the Downtown stage.
— The Ambassador and Downtown stages seemed pretty far apart, which may totally make sense and be the best way to do it, but when it’s the end of the day and you’re exhausted, it’s annoying.
— There was only one area with decent beer. And yes, all the drinks were overpriced. (But hey, that’s pretty typical.)
— While it is the norm to put the biggest acts very last, it would’ve been nice to buck the norm and mix things up a bit more.
Overall, I had a great time and consider this one of the best music festivals I’ve been to.

Life would be more beautiful if I didn’t have work the next morning…
The third and final day of the 2015 Life is Beautiful was my first time here. I wasn’t going to go at all and hadn’t even thought about the possibility until my friend shared a relatively good offer that he had found for VIP wristbands. I decided that it would be a fun, unique experience at the least. However, I didn’t expect that I’d end up considering it an incredible value.
Most of my highlights and memories from today will be the music. I mostly stayed near the Downtown Stage, which I would consider as the main stage. The Green started off with a decent reggae set. Saint Motel sounded great and delivered a great performance of their most well-​known song «My Type.» Walk The Moon had one of the day’s best sets. They were energetic and definitely gave their «older» fans (note: they’ve only had two major albums) something to cheer about by closing with their first single «Anna Sun.»
After night fell, Brandon Flowers took the stage and delivered strongly on his hits as well as his lesser-​known solo songs. It was all going smoothly until he seemingly had a «keyboard issue» in the middle of his set and had to have it replaced. Strangely, his band and backup singers had filed off the stage. When the new keyboard was put in place and revealed, everyone saw the «k» on it and cheered because they knew what was coming: a series of a certain local band’s famous songs starting with «Mr. Brightside» and ending with «When You Were Young,» although that mini-​set was notably missing «Somebody Told Me.»
Weezer was my last hurrah at the Downtown Stage. They played pretty much all of their hits as well as their new single «Go Away,» which features Bethany Cosentino. Coincidentally, she was there performing with her own group Best Coast earlier, so of course they brought her on stage for that duet-​of-​sorts. Their set even had an encore with their highest-​charting single «Beverly Hills» and their classic «Buddy Holly,» both of which I had been eagerly awaiting the whole time. After Weezer concluded their performance, it seems that almost everybody, myself included, headed over to the Ambassador Stage on the opposite side of the venue for Death Cab For Cutie. I had to cut my viewing of that band short because my friends were leaving, but I heard several of their notable songs. They were pretty solid, but they didn’t seem especially inspired in my opinion.
Food is a big thing here. However, it seems that all of the food for sale is pretty overpriced, and the menus of even the interesting names are limited to mass-​appeal products, like the burger from Fleur (by Hubert Keller) and the lobster roll and hot dog at RM Seafood /​Rx Boiler Room. If I want overpriced restaurants or food trucks, I’ll go to the Strip or the Great American Foodie Fest, respectively. Also, it seems that they’ve attracted a lot fewer non-​Vegas chefs this year, which lessens the feel of exclusivity even more.
Fortunately, VIP access meant that I could head over to the cooking demonstrations and score free samples, all of which were delicious. Adam Sobel, a chef with ties to Vegas and a current position leading Michael Mina’s test kitchen in San Francisco, prepared a za’atar cured salmon flatbread despite his vegan heritage. Steve Samson, who had a brief stint as a Vegas sous chef before eventually opening Sotto in LA, demonstrated a sous vide lamb with arugula and a pecorino not-​Romano. Finally, Carla Pellegrino showed us a boiled octopus that she eventually served with potatoes, fava beans, and pesto. I should note that there was one cocktail demo by Eric Hay of Wirtz Beverage where we didn’t have the opportunity to sample anything. Fiddlesticks.
I did pay attention to some of the art in passing. There’s a lot to find if you’re really into that kind of thing, and I was most surprised to see Snoopy and Hello Kitty with parts of their skeletons revealed. As for the speaker events, I didn’t attend any of those although it seems that I would had a huge scheduling conflict with the only speaker I would have cared about on Day 1, if I had been able to go.
We’re down to the finer details now. I appreciated and often utilized the charging stations in the VIP area, although I should have brought my own chargers and/​or battery packs because the provided cables were slow. The water stations were reasonably convenient, but because they didn’t have any water stations directly inside the VIP areas, I did a lot of walking and RFID scanning today in spite of keeping close to one stage. Weather was hot, but that’s not truly within the organizers’ control. Finally, I’m sure parking isn’t the easiest situation for this kind of huge event in this part of town, but we found a legit and inexpensive spot relatively nearby.
I’m hearing rumors that Life is Beautiful may have ended its run. If so, this was a great last day, and I have no regrets about going. Hopefully, they’ll be back and better.

As soon as pre-​sale tickets are announced we buy them immediately. This is the best festival I’ve ever seen organized. They have the stages spread out far enough so there is no sound bleed over, The food is the, the people are always super pleasan.
I love people watching and I can honestly say that when i come here I can pick a spot anywhere and observe some human awesomeness. No attitudes or normal concert drama, no upset patrons pissed at vendors, and no one angry about the musical selection because there are so many choices.
The fact that they take over much of downtown makes this the most eclectic, energizing, festival I’ve ever personally witnessed. It’s like EDC, meets foodie fest, but with EVERYONE favorite Pandora station playing at once. I simply cannot say enough about how amazing Life is beautiful is.

Things I liked about this festival:
* Culinary Village
* Artwork scattered all throughout the venue
* Great musical lineup incl. Foo Fighters; Kacey Musgraves
* Great way to festival without camping (can Tempur-​Pedic please please make a sleeping bag?)
* José Andrés made us tacos
* Can’t wait until next year
Things I did not like about this festival:
* Had to listen to people humble-​brag about free tickets (we paid full price thank you)
* Pushy, angry, and impolites (you know who you are)
* Volunteers who don’t have answers to simple questions
* Ill-​fitting acid washed shorts (veering into «Jersey Shore» territory)
* Bathrooms. Portable. I just really don’t like ‘em. Note to self: talk to therapist about this.

To begin, over the years I have stopped going to certain festivals because of the crowds. I value my space… I like to be able to jam out. LIB was perfect for that. No so many people that I couldn’t dance without hitting anyone… but just enough people that I felt that festival family vibe. Sticking to the crowd topic, everyone really seemed to live the whole Life is Beautiful theme… I don’t recall seeing any fights or any douche attitudes… I LOVED it. Even though I hardly knew anyone there, many folks were (likely) from out of town & I’m new here… I felt that I was a part of the community.
I did not attend last year, so I can’t compare the lineups. but this year’s lineup was insane to me! I got to check so many live sets off of my bucketlist… not to mention, see a few sets that I absolutely loved for a 2^nd time. Phantogram… my lawd. I know, this is picking pretty deep but I wish they would have had Phantogram at night because their light show is INSANE! A few other notable acts… Outkast… crazy energy throughout the entire set! Foo Fighters… were wild! Dave is the man! The Weeknd (third time seeing this guy) put on a hell of a show, per usual. Kanye, Arctic Monkeys, Broken Bells, A-​Trak, Little Dragon… well, you can view the lineup yourself, everyone was amazing. I really appreciated the genre mixing, there was really something there for everyone.
The art… and maybe I just don’t get out much, I’m not sure, but I’ve never seen so much amazing talent! I loved being able to walk around in between sets and check out all of the art and activities they had going on. The wall murals are sick and I’m glad they keep them up. Some of the pieces were somewhat interactive… a pink furry wall, the wire man who followed you in every direction… which I really appreciated. It’ll be neat-​o to see more of that next year.
In and out privileges were EXTREMELY appreciated… with the location being so close to everything that fremont has to offer, it was nice to be able to leave and take a break at points to drink & eat a little cheaper outside of the festival. The festival had plenty of bathrooms and I never had to wait in line. but it was also nice to be able to sneak away and use a real bathroom as well.
Honestly though, if they did away with the in and out privileges — for whatever reason — it wouldn’t be the end of the world because there were plenty of areas where you could dip away and relax. We had a wonderful experience chilling out in the Post Secrets dome. I have been a fan of Post Secrets for a while and being able to lay back in comfy seating and view postings above was so cool! We never even knew that you could go inside the dome at Container Park! Ha!
My only complaint was ride costs. There was really only one ride, the ferris wheel… and $ 5 per person to ride was really ridiculous. But, I can’t complain too much because we rode it as Outkast was opening. Food and drinks didn’t really seem to expensive to me — comparing to other festivals… and the quality seemed much better. I really love that they showcased local food! I also appreciate the water station and the abundance of staff available to direct you to where you wished to go — if asked. Everyone that I encountered was incredibly kind! This festival experience spoiled me!
I will definitely be returning to LIB next year… this was a stellar event and a lovely group of people to be amongst. I really hope that they continue to progress… Life Is Beautiful definitely has my support.

I’ve never seen so many acid washed high-​waisted booty shorts in my life. By the way, this isn’t me complaining.
I have frequented many festivals and LIB is by far my favorite for multiple reasons: great music, amazing art, loads of tasty food, in an out privileges, and multiple bathroom locations. Yup bathroom locations made this list. This can sometimes be often overlooked, but it is an important must have for festivals.
If you haven’t been to Life Is Beautiful is takes place all over downtown Las Vegas. From Fremont Street all the way past the old Western Hotel and Atomic Bar & Liquor Store. This also includes Container Park which closes for the weekend and is only accessible once you’re inside the festival grounds. Throughout the streets there are multiple art displays, interactive features, and around every corner there’s either a food spot or beer vendor. Although food and drinks tended to be a little on the pricey side, with the awesome in and out privileges, you could go to any one of the many bars or restaurants that surround the venue and not have to pay top dollar for a grilled cheese or Heineken.
Parking was never a factor and the grounds themselves never felt crowded, that «cattle herding» felling never came over me once. The grounds were mapped out perfectly with multiple pathways leading to the same destinations. Along most of these paths were giant painted wall murals or pieces of 3-​D Art that stopped you in your tracks and made for sweet photo ops. As corny as this sounds, I think these pieces of art and the constant reminder that, «You Are Beautiful» kept everyone in high sprits with smiles and random high fives. The, «bro-​factor» was kept at bay and I never once witnessed a fight or festival goers acting like over-​privileged jerk offs.
The music was on point and every band seemed to be feeding off the «beautiful» vibe that the crowd was putting out. Every band I stayed to watch gave nothing but praise to the Vegas crowds. Some of my personal favorites of the weekend were Alt-​J and The Arctic Monkeys. I hate to say this but, Outkast was pretty boring (I’m probably going to get some hate on that comment). Artist I’m bummed I missed were Phantogram, Broken Bells, and Girl Talk.
I heard the Chef stages in Container Park were amazing, but sadly I never had a chance to check them out; there was just simply too many things to do. That might be my one beef… Too many fun things to do or at least try to do over the course of three days.
This review could on forever and from the looks of it, it kind of does. You really just have to experience this event for yourself. Food, Music, and Beauty.
What else do you really need?