Famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ Sign Goes Green for St. Patrick’s Day
LAS VEGAS – In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) in partnership with Tourism Ireland have created a very special Irish welcome by turning the famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign green in honor of St. Patrick’s weekend by replacing the normal yellow bulbs with green. As the world gears up for St. Patrick’s Day, the famous Betty Willis designed ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign turned green last night, kicking off this weekend’s celebrations and Tourism Ireland’s ‘Global Greening’ 2013 initiative.
Irish celebrity and host of The Voice Ireland, Kathryn Thomas, flew to Las Vegas to oversee the turning on of the green lights and to get the Vegas party started. Kathryn received a great welcome in Las Vegas where she was joined by Las Vegas Host Committee Chairman & former Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, Las Vegas showgirls and local members of the Irish Diaspora who call Las Vegas home.
Kathryn commented, "I am delighted to be in Las Vegas, it is unquestionably the Entertainment capital of the World and I am very proud to be part of the first ever Greening of the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, it’s shaping up to be some celebration!"
"We are pleased to partner with our friends at Tourism Ireland on their ‘Global Greening’ initiative," said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the LVCVA. "Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is a longstanding American tradition, and there’s no better place to celebrate than in Las Vegas."
Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, added, "We are absolutely delighted that the famous ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas is joining our St. Patrick’s celebrations this year. St. Patrick’s Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us. Our message is that there has never been a better time to ‘Jump In’ and plan a visit to Ireland."
Las Vegas is in great company this St. Patrick’s Day as many landmarks and iconic sites around the world are going green in honor of St. Patrick. The Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, Selfridges in London, Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj al Arab in Dubai and the Prince’s Palace of Monaco are amongst the landmarks and iconic sites all going green. The Las Vegas Welcome sign will stay green until March 18 in honor of all things Irish.
The ‘Global Greening’ is a Tourism Ireland initiative which puts huge focus on Ireland around St. Patrick’s Day. It gives people worldwide the opportunity to connect with Ireland or reconnect with their Irish past.
