LAS VEGAS - While several celebrities threw parties in celebration of Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, Ludacris had another reason to celebrate this weekend _ his upcoming 30th birthday.

The Atlanta rapper held an hours-long birthday bash at the Rio hotel on Friday night, one of several star-studded celebrations that have overtaken the Las Vegas strip since Thursday.

If you missed the gigantic billboards trumpeting the arrival of MTV Video Music Awards, there were plenty of other signals to let you know the celebrities had landed: The casino at the Palms hotel, where the awards will be held, was overflowing with bright lights and setups for cameras; elsewhere, luxury gifting suites were set up at various hotels for stars to grab a gaggle of free stuff.

At Caesar's Palace, the Style Villa had LeSportsac bags, Guess products, skin care items and plenty of swag and free drinks set out for the taking, but on Friday early afternoon, few celebrities had sauntered through _ many hadn't arrived into town.

But by the evening, things picked up on the celebrity scene, starting with Ludacris' birthday party. Though it was a sit-down dinner, it hardly had a formal feel as music blasted throughout the night and video screens played some of his favorite movies, including "Scarface," "Friday" and his own Oscar-winning flick, "Crash."

Music legend Quincy Jones and actress Gabrielle Union were among those in giving the rapper birthday hugs; actress Tichina Arnold from "Everybody Hates Chris" gave Ludacris a special serenade of what she called the "black Happy Birthday" song, a more soulful twist on the original.

Elsewhere, Snoop Dogg held court at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, performing for fans as part of Rolling Stone's 40th anniversary bash.

The party scene was expected to ratchet up on Saturday evening with a bevy of events, including separate celebrations hosted by 50 Cent and Kanye West.