Year of the Tiger Ferris wheel lighting at the Santa Monica Pier

Published on January 21, 2022

The Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel will be lit red and gold on Monday, January 31 to Tuesday, February 1 to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.

Lunar New Year is a celebration of the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunar calendar. In Chinese culture and East Asian countries, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival or simply, Chinese New Year. The Spring Festival is meant to celebrate a prosperous agricultural year as the winter solstice comes to an end. The 1st of February starts the Year of the Tiger on traditional lunar calendars, the third zodiac of the 12 lunar cycles. According to folklore, the confident Tiger was convinced that no one could be faster or have more stamina than the ‘King of the Jungle’ for a race across the celestial skies that would decide the order of the zodiacs. However, when the Tiger climbed out of the river, thinking it was first, it was informed that the cunning Rat had already placed first followed by the strong Ox in second. This left the king of the jungle having to settle for third place. The Year of the Tiger symbolizes big changes are coming this year as we can anticipate a year of adventure and generosity.

Pacific Park is celebrating Lunar New Year on the Pacific Wheel by featuring red and gold patterns and icons from popular Lunar New Year celebrations including gold ingots and shining lanterns as well as “Happy New Year” in mandarin. This special lighting event will take place on the evening of Monday, January 31 to Tuesday, 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 Year of the Tiger

WHEN:
Monday, January 31 to Tuesday, February 1
dusk (around 5:30 PM) to midnight

WHERE:
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier

 

Pacific Park regularly programs the Ferris wheel to display seasonal programing 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.

 

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Feature image courtesy of @pacpark