By DONNA BALANCIA
LAS VEGAS – Punk Rock Bowling isn’t just about NOFX and dumb jokes. The 20-year-old fest is an inclusive economic staple that brings music tourists to downtown Las Vegas and puts the “heads in beds.”
Tourism is the financial driver of Las Vegas with more than 43 million visitors a year and Punk Rock Bowling contributes to this with an estimated 15,000 attendees. Not a huge number, but those visitors do spend money on hotel rooms, food and beverage, souvenirs and nights out in the often overlooked downtown area of Las Vegas. Plenty of tourists hit the Strip, but punks break out the wallets in the less publicized section of the City of Sin, where Punk Rock Bowling is held.
Downtown Vegas has ‘Cool Bars’ for Punkers
“Downtown Vegas is a good place to have Punk Rock Bowling,” said Frank who attends the festival each year. “It’s not as glitzy as the Las Vegas strip and there are some cool bars on this end of Vegas. I like The Golden Nugget and this part of town is more historic.”
Punk Rock Bowling contributes to the annual $58.8 billion economic impact tourism brings to Southern Nevada. The crowd of punk rock fans at this year’s event ranged in age from teens to late 60s and overall were well mannered and enjoyed the offerings of the bands and the vendors on hand.
Photo Recap of Punk Rock Bowling 2018
So while one band participating in the fest, namely NOFX, may have brought unwanted publicity to the festival for its insensitive comments, the festival itself, in its 20th year, has been a staple of the Las Vegas community.
Here’s a photo recap of Punk Rock Bowling 2018.
