Honoring Kobe Bryant’s Legacy on the Santa Monica Pier

The Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel will be lit purple and gold on Wednesday, August 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant’s legacy in the City of Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant Day (also known as Black Mamba Day or Mamba Day) is being celebrated on August 24 in Los Angeles to commemorate the life of Laker legend, Kobe Bryant. Back in 2016, the date (8/24) was chosen as the holiday because of Bryant’s numbers on his jerseys, 8 and 24, as well as it is the day after his birthday, August 23. He would have been 44 years old.

Kobe started his career in the NBA at 17 years old and spent 20 years of his basketball career with the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2018, Kobe Bryant launched the foundation “Mamba Sports Foundation” now called the “Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation,” which is dedicated to creating a positive impact for underserved athletes and boys & girls in sports. The vision of the non-profit was to create a world where young boys & girls had an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams through sports and life. Pacific Park will join other LA area landmarks in lighting purple and gold for the evening for the Los Angeles icon that was taken too soon.

This special lighting event will take place on the evening of Wednesday, August 24. 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 Kobe Bryant Day

WHEN:
Wednesday, August 24
dusk (around 7:30 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.

Feature image courtesy of @18th.vzn