International Women’s Day Ferris Wheel Lighting at the Santa Monica Pier

Published on February 23, 2024

Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier celebrates Women’s History Month with a special lighting of the Pacific Wheel on March 8, International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day is a day of activism and celebration for everyone committed to women’s equality. To mark the occasion, Pacific Park’s famous, solar-powered Ferris wheel will be lit up using the colors purple, green and white. These official IWD colors signify justice, dignity, and hope.

The special light program will run from dusk (around 6–7 pm) to midnight on Friday, March 8. The best views of the Pacific Wheel lights are from the Santa Monica Pier boardwalk just west of the amusement park, or from the beaches south of the Pier.

Luckily, if you can’t make it to the Pier you can also watch the light program online at pacpark.com/live.

WHAT:
Special Lighting of the Pacific Wheel for International Women’s Day 2024

WHEN:
Friday, March 8
dusk (around 6–7 PM) to midnight

WHERE:
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) gives focus to issues like gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women. It originated from labor movements in North America and Europe during the early 20th century, spurred on by the female suffrage movement.

The first International Women’s Day was held in March 1911.  It has since been commemorated annually by the UN and much of the world, with each year’s observance centered on a particular theme or issue. The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Inspire Inclusion.”

In the US, International Women’s Day is part of Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month. The event originated in 1981 when Congress passed a bill authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim the week of March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987, Congress passed another law which designated the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”

Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations recognizing the event. These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history.

The Pacific Wheel

Did you know the Pacific Wheel is the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel? It gives visitors a panoramic view of the Southern California coastline from more than 130 feet above the Santa Monica Pier. Pacific Park regularly programs the Ferris wheel to display themed light designs for holidays and special occasions.

The 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. Fitted with more than 174,000 energy-efficient LED lights, the wheel displays stunning computer-generated lighting entertainment in the evenings.

Pacific Park staff curates and designs these light programs and animates them manually; some designs can take hours of programming. The results are fun, high-energy, and sometimes whimsical designs that entertain guests on the Santa Monica Pier and surrounding beaches.

 

Feature image courtesy of @pacpark