Black History Month Ferris wheel lighting at the Santa Monica Pier

The Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel will be lit red, green, and yellow on Wednesday, February 1 in recognition of Black History Month 2023.

Black History Month is an opportunity to inform, educate, and reflect on the important people, contributions, and events in the history of the African diaspora.

February 2023 will mark the fourth year that the Santa Monica Black History Month Committee has proudly provided programming to the public that’s been informative, inspirational, fun and increasingly representative of our diverse histories, communities and cultures. This year marks a departure from online activities that filled previous years’ schedules. The City is concentrating on two central, in-person events: a kickoff celebration on February 1 featuring food trucks and dancing, and an author reading and conversation on February 23.

This Wednesday, February 1, Santa Monica’s Pacific Park joins the City of Santa Monica in celebrating Black History Month by lighting up the Pacific Wheel in green and red.

This special lighting event will take place on the evening of Wednesday, February 1. The Ferris wheel lights can be seen from dusk until 11:35 PM each evening. Enjoy watching the light program online at www.pacpark.com/live.

WHAT:
Special Lighting of the Pacific Wheel for Black History Month 2023

WHEN:
Wednesday, February 1
dusk (around 5:30 PM) to midnight

WHERE:
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier

See the lights from home at www.pacpark.com/live.

Pacific Park regularly programs the Ferris wheel to display seasonal programming and themed light designs for holidays and special occasions. The Pacific Wheel’s state-of-the-art lighting package was installed in 2016 and can display over 1.6 million different colors and animate patterns and icons in 24 frames per second. The energy-efficient LEDs on the face of the Ferris wheel are powered by solar arrays inside Pacific Park. The light programs are curated and designed by Pacific Park staff. Each design is manually animated; some designs can take hours of programming. The aim is to provide fun, high-energy, and sometimes whimsical designs to entertain guests on the Santa Monica Pier and surrounding beaches.

Featured image provided by @sammydepthphotography on Instagram.