Viva Las Vegas #21 Rockabilly Weekend Car Show

​The Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend takes place in April each year, usually on Easter Weekend. Viva Las Vegas is a four day celebration of everything rockabilly and the event ends on a Sunday night. Each day features several main events that include Burlesque Bingo, Pin-Up Girl Contests, rockabilly guys and gals swimwear fashion contests, rockabilly bowling and a Saturday afternoon car show. Rockabilly music plays around the clock and the top rockabilly recording artists from around the globe headline at the main events. As can be imagined, Viva Las Vegas is pure rockabilly heaven!

The Viva Las Vegas Saturday Car Show features over 600 pre-1964 hot rods, so for fans of classic muscle, this is a car show that you really do not want to miss! Everything from desert rat rods and extreme gassers to lead sleds and flat heads can be viewed at this big event. Bikes, antique experimental cars, Bucket T’s, Willy’s, and supercharged big block monster hot rods of the past all come to life at Viva Las Vegas. 

The music is what Viva Las Vegas is all about and several rockabilly bands perform at the Saturday Car Show. In 2018, the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis took top billing at the car show and the opening acts were famous rockabilly bands from the present age. The band stage area certainly does turn into a big party in the afternoon. The audience is like a sea of hep cat greasers and venimous vixens toting classic Asian style sunbrellas bopping to rockabilly, which is as good as it gets!  

A world famous burlesque queen, tattoo model or rockabilly diva usually hosts the car show in an autograph tent. In 2018 the diva was Elvira, from back in the old Saturday afternoon horror movie days! There are plenty of rockabilly merchandise vendors at the Saturday Car Show, so it is best to set some cash aside for this rare rockabilly shopping opportunity. The rockabilly sunbrellas are a popular item and they do help to prevent sunburn in the desert environment.

Elvis Wedding Ceremonies are one of the perks of this festival and watching couples tie the knot rockabilly style is fun to do. The Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend Pin-Up Girl contestants also stroll through the car show grounds while looking to secure more votes. I met one of the pin-up model contestants and she actually flew all the way from Finland with the hopes of being crowned as the queen, which shows that rockabilly culture definitely is big worldwide.

​Viva Las Vegas is a festival that attracts rockabilly fans from around the globe and a lot of people meet up with friends at this event from year to year. After 21 years, Viva Las Vegas certainly has become a tradition and attending the Saturday Pre-1964 Hod Rod Car Show sure is a lot of good old fashioned fun in the sun!