iHeartRadio Music Festival Gearing Up For 5th Year

In recent years, the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the Las Vegas MGM Grand has become one of the biggest annual events in music. Known for showcasing a combination of the most established artists in the business and exciting up-and-comers, the iHeartRadio Festival thrills audiences with rotating performances of popular radio hits, where many other music festivals involve lengthier sets from bands showing off large samplings of their material.

This September, the iHeartRadio Festival will be celebrating its fifth year running, and the action is expected to be bigger and better than ever. Here’s a look ahead at what makes the event so memorable.

The Lineup Is Sensational

From the very beginning of the iHeartRadio Music Festival back in 2011, fans have become accustomed to great lineups of musicians. Past shows have welcomed acts including the likes of Jay Z, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift, just to name a few. The 2015 lineup won’t disappoint in its attempt to live up to the high standards of the event.

According to the MGM Grand website, some of the headline acts at the 2015 festival will include Lil Wayne, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney, Sam Smith, and The Who, just to name a few. That should give you an idea not only of the quality of performer that takes the stage at the iHeartRadio Festival, but also the diversity of genre that fans can enjoy.

The Festival Showcases The Best Of Vegas

There’s a growing perception that casino entertainment is becoming somewhat dated all over the world. Some of this started way back in the mid-’90s when the launch of  paved the way for online casino businesses that would ultimately generate explosive interest. For years, people have assumed that the migration of gamers and gamblers to Internet-based casinos would harm major live casinos. And more recently, concern for live casinos has grown internationally given the struggles of some of the Vegas-imitating venues in Southeast Asia. According to the , Macau’s renowned casinos just experienced a 14th straight monthly revenue decline!

Yet through all of this, the bustling entertainment and tourism industries in Las Vegas have remained strong. Online casinos are gaining popularity worldwide, and some international casinos have struggled, but Vegas is beginning to appear impervious to decline. One reason is that it continues to attract events like the iHeartRadio Music Festival. Rest assured, that’s part of the intrigue of this show. The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a venue that’s at once historic and spectacular, and there’s just nothing quite like seeing the most popular musical artists of the day performing their hits on Sin City’s grandest stage.

The Village Is Growing

The arena stage will indeed be the biggest show at the festival, but the folks behind iHeartRadio have also established a pretty unique feature in the form of what’s referred to as the “Daytime Village.” Basically, the idea behind the Village is to provide a platform for some of the bigger rising artists in music, as opposed to the firmly established superstars who will dominate the arena. Naturally there’s some crossover, particularly given that we live in an age where online exposure and Internet play can turn young artists into stars overnight. However, part of the excitement is in seeing the artists who are young now but could take the big stage in the near future.

The iHeartRadio site names artists including Hozier, Tori Kelly, Demi Lovato, Walk The Moon, and Nick Jonas among those who will play the Daytime Village, which is active during the Saturday of the festival.

The 2015 festival takes place Sept. 18-19. With the hype starting to build, it looks as if the fifth year could be the best one yet.