Desert Breeze Park has been a part of my life for a long time. I have memories of playing on its jungle gyms, shooting hoops, and watching baseball, softball and soccer games as a kid. Now that I live in Spring Valley again, it’s my regular walking spot. I do laps around the park’s 240 acres, lush with several species of trees; I sit on benches and people watch (and dog watch at the dog park); and I gawk at kids dropping into bowls with scooters and skateboards, pulling off tricks I would never attempt.
My long-term relationship with Desert Breeze is not unique. It’s a storied park, founded in 1996 and one of Las Vegas’ largest. It has hosted countless picnics, parties and many cultural events including Clark County’s annual two-day Tacos & Tamales Festival, which has hosted 20,000 attendees in previous years. Back in 2009, it even staged a concert by a then-little known band called Imagine Dragons at the Bite of Las Vegas festival.
Now, in its 28th year, the park is getting a new events center. Officials hope the venue will provide affordable entertainment options for the community and a platform for local artists and entertainers.
A building for entertainers and touring artists under construction at Desert Breeze Park events center.
“I’m excited for this, because Desert Breeze has hosted some of the biggest events in this town,” says Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, whose district includes the park.
“With the events center, we have the opportunity to give other local bands a stage to break out, like Imagine Dragons did.”
Construction of the events center (unofficially dubbed the Special Events Venue at Desert Breeze Regional Park) started in 2022 and is expected to be mostly wrapped up by October. Radio station X107.5 has announced that a concert featuring Las Vegas band Falling In Reverse, Awolnation, Palaye Royale, Sleep Theory and more will take place at the venue October 26.
Sitting on 14.5 acres, the events center includes a 208-stall parking lot, a ticket office and a 7.5-acre event area which includes two natural turf fields. Surrounding the event area are 12 power pedestals for electric and water hookups, allowing for flexible use.
“We built this so that the stages can be in any direction, or there can be multiple stages. … You have it set up so the stages can be hooked right in, or food trucks or any other type of facility,” Jones says.
“Having a facility like this, I think, really gets us get back to providing those community-focused events … with all of the tech and facilities that you need for a spectacular event,” Jones says.
Live music, outdoor movies, game watch parties and food truck festivals are on the agenda. Parking and security details need to be worked out for future events, but Jones estimates the venue will be able to host up to 12,000 attendees.
The events center also includes a 2-acre production lot, with a dedicated building for entertainers.
“They’ll have dressing rooms, laundry facilities, basically anything. If a band wants to come and get ready for an event, they’ve got, essentially, their green room. And we’ve got storage for stages and all of the equipment that goes along with this,” Jones says.
Natural turf fields at the events center at Desert Breeze Park.
He adds that the venue will offer competitive rental rates compared to others in town. And that will ultimately benefit consumers, who already feel like they’re priced out of the market for certain shows on the Strip.
“For the last several years, [X107.5’s] big concert was on the Strip. So they’re paying Cosmopolitan prices to rent a facility. And that just means that the cost to the average person who lives here is substantially more. The beauty of this facility is, we’re offering much more competitive rental rates, and that savings is passed onto the people who live here,” Jones says.
The current construction is just phase one of a larger expansion of Desert Breeze Park planned for the coming years. Future phases of development include plans for four soccer fields, two special-use fields, four baseball fields, an adaptive use field with enhanced accessibility features, a covered playground, restrooms and a shaded plaza with seating, a walking loop and lawn areas. Funding for the baseball fields has been secured, according to Jones’ office.
Expansion of the park has been a “dream” of the county since before Jones was elected to represent District F in 2018. Phase one of construction was funded by room tax revenue set aside for regional facilities.
Ultimately, the goal is to enhance quality of life for constituents, Jones says.
“We’re trying to make it so that it’s a place where people can live, work and play and get out of their car. And so if we have the trails, parks [and] bike lanes, so that people can really get out in the community and enjoy the amenities that we have. That’s really the focus here,” he says.
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place before the X107.5 concert, he adds.
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