The Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel will be lit red, white, and green on Wednesday, May 5 in recognition of Cinco de Mayo.

Although many people mistakenly assume the 5th of May is Mexican Independence Day, that holiday, Día de la Independencia, is observed on September 16. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated to remember the Mexican Army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla. Similar to Sparta’s historic victory at Thermopylae, an out-numbered Mexican army overcame a larger, better equipped French force.

Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated in Southern California and Pacific Park will join other destinations in lighting red, white and green for the evening.

This special lighting event will take place on the evening of Wednesday, May 5. The Ferris wheel lights can be seen from dusk until 11:35 PM each evening. Enjoy watching the light program online at www.dev.pacpark.enki.tech/live.
 

WHAT:
Special Lighting of the Pacific Wheel for Cinco de Mayo

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 5
Dusk (around 7:30 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.

Feature image courtesy of @plaztikz0ul