Your shopping list is set. Your days are full of meetings with vendors. Now, how do you plan to relax and celebrate a successful market week?

The next 12 months in Las Vegas are shaping up to be the most exciting in this city’s history—a bold statement, considering the place has existed for nearly 120 years and is widely regarded as the entertainment capital of the world.

The annual Luxury and JCK shows, returning to the Venetian Resort, are of course one of the high points. Also on the “It” list: the opening of MSG Sphere, a music and entertainment venue at the Venetian, in September; the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix in November; completion of the Fontainebleau resort late this year; and the Super Bowl in February 2024.

Between now and the opening kickoff of Super Bowl LVIII, there’s plenty of time to celebrate everything that makes Sin City special right now—iconic musical acts, intimate and ­immersive theater, epic lounges, world-class restaurants, one-of-a-kind diversions, and some of the coolest museums anywhere in the American West.

New and Old Favorites at Venetian/Palazzo

Together, the Venetian and the Palazzo at the Venetian compose one of the largest casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. The complex always seems to be reinventing itself with new and exciting amenities. That means an endless stream of fresh experiences for show attendees.

Notable additions since last year’s show include two restaurants and a new bar that hits the spot. The first of the restaurants, Wakuda, is a Japanese wonderland. The main dining room offers all the usual suspects: sushi, sashimi, robata, and more. The Omakase Room—the only one of its kind in Las Vegas—features a totally custom experience, complete with a mixologist who makes drinks to order and a menu with highly seasonal ingredients, including live crustaceans, Japanese wagyu beef, sashimi, and an exclusive sake or wine pairing. Perhaps the best part: The room seats six, which means it’s ultra-exclusive. (At press time, several reservations were still available for the duration of the JCK show.)

The other restaurant couldn’t be more different. While meals at Wakuda are multicourse events that often last two or three hours, food at Miznon, the first Las Vegas outpost of the Israeli restaurant chain, is designed to be consumed quickly and on the go. The restaurant offers glorified counter service, cranking out freshly made pita sandwiches, hummus, falafels, and other Mediterranean goodies from noon to 8 p.m. every day. The house specialty is a baked potato smashed into a giant paper-thin pancake and served with salt and sour cream. It sounds basic, but it’s delicious. If you get nothing else, try this (be sure to go hungry).

Wherever you end up eating on property, spend 90 minutes after dinner throwing darts at Flight Club, a new bar/attraction that took off earlier this year on the Palazzo side of the Grand Canal Shoppes. Think of this place as a Topgolf-style diversion, only with darts. Guests book time at private dartboards called oches (that’s pronounced ock-eys) and can play a series of preprogrammed games during the allotted time. Each oche has full food and drink service. The stalls are equipped with all sorts of cameras to record you taking a victory lap when you beat your friends.

Big Doings on the Strip

The Venetian/Palazzo isn’t the only Strip spot with novel attractions; in Las Vegas, new stuff pops up all the time.

Take Proper Eats food hall inside Aria Las Vegas. In the vein of Block 16 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Famous Foods Street Eats at Resorts World Las Vegas, Aria’s upscale food court features Laughing Buddha Ramen, Seoul Bird Korean Street Food, Shalom Y’all Mediterranean, Pizzaoki (pizza from Steve Aoki), Wexler’s Deli, Egghead egg sandwiches, Temaki Bar sushi, and Easy Donuts, a donut shop with a speakeasy cocktail lounge in the back. Easy’s, the cocktail bar, offers impeccable libations from expert mixologists every night as well as live entertainment on weekends.

To the south, in the same strip mall as M&M’s World, BrewDog brewery is home to what is now the largest open-air rooftop deck in the entire city. Enjoy spectacular views up and down the Las Vegas Strip as you sip on some of this Scottish brewery’s sweet-tasting ales and latest concoctions. BrewDog also happens to be a great spot for brunch—the loaded french fries are quite a meal.

To the north, an immersive art experience at Resorts World is turning heads for its variety and creativity. Transfix opened in April and will run through October. Brought to you by experiential entrepreneurs Michael Blatter and Tom Stinchfield, Transfix has an unmistakable Burning Man vibe. The attraction invites participants to embark on their own 90- to 120-minute journey through a four-acre labyrinth. Featured throughout the venue are more than 50 monolithic, kinetic, and illuminated (even fire-breathing) works by international artists.

For the dog-lovers among us, Sgt. Puppa, inside the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall, is an upscale doggie heaven, chockablock with pet accessories, clothes, and other paraphernalia. The brand is the brainchild of entrepreneur Eloise Monaghan, creator of global luxury lingerie label Honey Birdette, which sold to Playboy for $333 million in 2021. Judging from the lines at the store in its first month, Sgt. Puppa has tapped into a gold mine.

Excitement Around Town

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, excitement is building over a new eatery, a new theater, and new interactive performance experiences that are available to everyone.

The two-story theater, dubbed the Beverly, opened downtown in early March and today is Vegas’ only indie film house. Its three-part mission is to host independent film, readings, and music. In addition to the main theater and courtyard, the Beverly has an open-air jazz terrace that’s the perfect spot to enjoy a glass of wine on a warm summer night. The terrace also is home to acts you likely won’t see anywhere else in town.

Cheapshot is a different kind of performing arts venue. Located on Fremont Street East, the spot is a mashup of dive bar and vaudeville lounge. Every night a different slate of entertainers takes to the stage to perform various feats of derring-do: sword-swallowing, comedy, and more. You’d have to visit multiple times a month to see the same act twice; that translates into great variety for nothing more than a cover charge and average drink prices.

Rounding out the newest entertainment options, the Punk Rock Museum opened March 10. This museum, located between the Strat Hotel and the Arts District on the east side of Interstate 15, boasts what it bills as the world’s most expansive, inclusive, and intimate display of artifacts, ­fliers, photos, clothing, instruments, handwritten lyrics, and artwork donated by some of the most legendary punk rock bands of our time. One of the best parts of the museum is a guitar room, where guests can play the actual guitars and basses through the same amps the artists used. The collection includes guitars and amps from Rise Against, NOFX, Pennywise, Sick of It All, Strung Out, and many more.

As Las Vegas continues to rebound from the dip in tourism caused by the pandemic, it’s nice to know we visitors can rock on.

Top: Marco Cochrane’s sculpture R-Evolution at Transfix

Wakuda: Louiee Victa (2); Bauder at Transfix: Christopher Bauder & Kink–Axion, Photo by Ralph Larmann/courtesy of the artist and Transfix; Miznon: Max Flatow; Raudenbush at Transfix: Kate Raudenbush’s As Above, So Below/courtesy of the Artist and Transfix;; Easy Donuts: Chris Wessling; Vargas at Transfix: Pablo González Vargas’ Ilumina/courtesy of the artist and Transfix; Punk Rock Museum: Lisa Johnson; Sgt. Puppa: Shane O’Neal; the Beverly: PatrickGray.net; BrewDog: James North; Cochrane at Transfix: Marco Cochrane’s R-Evolution/courtesy of the artist and Transfix