LAS VEGAS -- Don’t try telling Oscar Goodman summer starts next month.

When the Las Vegas mayor stepped out Thursday to blue skies and 90-degree temperatures, he declared the year’s hottest season had officially arrived.

“The mayor of Las Vegas controls the universe,” Goodman joked during a proclamation ceremony in front of the world-famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

The event marked the 50th anniversary of the sign’s installment on the Strip, and it preceded what many said was the real sign of summer was happening a few blocks north.

Dressed in barely there bikinis, 281 women marched down Las Vegas Boulevard in what the Guinness Book of World Records ruled was history’s largest bikini parade.

Guinness representatives were even on hand to present a plaque to the event’s organizers, which included hostess Holly Madison. The Playboy centerfold and reality television star led the march in her gray, white and pink vintage bikini.

Madison and several other models took part in a pre-parade fashion show at the Las Vegas sign. The show featured swimsuit designs from several different eras, many that came long before the models were born.

As she led models down the Strip, Madison joked that being in a bikini is something she’d like to do every day.

“Who doesn’t want summer a month early? I’ve been lobbying for it my whole life, frankly,” she said.

Goodman’s decision to fast-track the start of summer comes at a time when Las Vegas is renewing its push for visitors during a tough economy.

Gaming revenues for March were down for the 15th straight month, with a 12 percent drop reported from Strip casinos.

Thursday’s event came two days after hundreds of casino workers marked National Travel and Tourism Week with a rally at the Las Vegas Convention Center.