Under the looming eyes of the Plaza and Golden Nugget hotels, Life Is Beautiful returned for the second night of its “Big Beautiful Block Party,” and this night was all about the tracks: music tracks and train tracks. The festival grounds sit adjacent to an active rail line, giving several train conductors a drive-by view of the side-by-side stages. On multiple occasions throughout the two-day festival, freight trains ploddingly rolled by during sets, prompting conductors to honk their horns and spark revelrous applause from the crowd.
In some ways, the train cars are the perfect metaphor for this scaled-down version of the Las Vegas-based festival because we’re all along for the ride.
The festival once took over 18 downtown Las Vegas city blocks, but the 2024 adaption is more manageable and even linguistic. In between sets, inspirational quotes flashed across the screens, such as “You Are Beautiful,” “You Are Powerful” and “You Are Dazzling.” Quotes from the late Tony Hsieh, the festival’s visionary, also appeared on signage throughout, keeping a noticeable link to the previous 10 Beautiful installments. “Celebrate being a little weird and incredibly bold,” one message attributed to Hsieh said. Another read, “There is beauty to be found all around you.”