LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Changes to the Fremont Street performer lottery program is leading to new rules but also tightens loopholes making the process more fair.
On Sept. 16, 2015, the City of Las Vegas adopted an amendment to the Las Vegas Municipal Code to address performers on Fremont Street, creating designated areas for performers during peak hours and to "further ensure that no one is permitted to monopolize or use those locations to the exclusion of others." That led to a registration and lottery program to help manage the time and place where entertainers could perform.
Exactly eleven years later, the Las Vegas City Council has acknowledged that changes on Fremont Street have necessitated additional amendments.
"Specifically, the City Council finds that certain street performers are being excluded from what are perceived as more desirable performance locations through threats, intimidation, and the fraudulent creation of phantom or duplicate online accounts during the lottery process, by both natural persons and corporate entities," city documents read in part. "These unlawful activities undermine street performers' fair access to performance locations on the Pedestrian Mall. In addition, certain bad actors are illegally selling and bartering access to performance locations, threatening street performers' constitutionally protected right to free expression under the First Amendment. Due to these actions, street performers are left with no recourse but to pay money to these bad actors in order to exercise their rights under the First Amendment."
Anthony Scapelli, a Senior Management Analyst with the city's Business Licensing Division, has been monitoring the street performer registration system since 2020. He flagged some of the loopholes in the system and said only minimal information was required to register.
"Between 7/11/2026 and 7/20/2026, I observed 155 duplicate registrations in the Street Performer Registration System under the name 'Lola,' all using the character description 'showgirl.' Althought no additional registration information was provided, we determined these are duplicate registrations," Scapelli wrote. "However, since the system does not require any contact information, such as an email address or telephone number, it prevents us from identifying or contacting the individual to begin enforcement actions."
City leaders also stated some street performers are "engaging in dangerous stunts and other activities which can cause bodily injury to spectators, passersby, and street performers themselves."
According to city documents, the following activities have been added to banned activities on Fremont Street:
- Back flips
- Front flips
- Side flips
- Jumping or vaulting over or onto, or attempting to jump or vault over, or onto, any person
- Simulated fighting, including shadow boxing and pretend sword fighting
Performers must be registered with the Business Licensing Division and that registration will be good for two years. Performers are also "not entitled to more than one registration regardless of the number of characters or acts performer. It is a misdemeanor for a performer to obtain or possess more than one registration."
In order to facilitate registration and the lottery system, performers will be required to submit an email address, telephone number, and/or a photograph of the performer, which the city says will be treated as confidential information. Performers may also be issued photo verification cards, which will be issued at no cost to the performers.
"Such cards shall be used for the sole purpose of allowing the City or the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to verify that any particular street performer is, in fact, the registrant assigned to a particular location at any particular time," documents read in part.
City leaders also emphasized that it is illegal to reserve, hold, retain, occupy, keep, or attempt to sell access to performance circles. If those rules are violated, that will now be considered a misdemeanor.
Documents state that a first violation will lead to a citation without a fine or penalty. However, for additional violations, street performers will be subject to a fine of $250 and a suspension of their registration for up to 180 days.
These are changes that street performers have actually been asking for.
At least 54 regular performers, which range from costumed performers to contortionists to comedians, all met with city leaders and provided statements saying the ability to win and use a performance circle has become "increasingly difficult" over the last five years due to people not leaving their spots after their time expired, homeless or other people holding spots for non-registered performers, and performers providing fraudulent registration materials that Fremont Street Security can't verify.
At the end of the day, the performers wrote they just want the process to be fair and for rules to be enforced for all. City leaders echoed that concern stating they hope these amendments will allow that to happen.
"[City leaders consulted] every interest group on planet Earth that had an interest in the Fremont Street experience and making it a place that people want to go and enjoy themselves,” Mayor Shelley Berkley said on Wednesday.
You can read the amendments to the original bill below.