The following is a submission from the Pier Corporation.
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier is turning SoCal green with “Shamrocks in the Sky” for St. Patrick’s Day as its iconic, 90-foot-tall Ferris wheel debuts a custom computer-generated lighting program in celebration of the Irish holiday on Tuesday, March 17 from sunset to midnight.
The Pacific Wheel will shine in vibrant green hues, featuring a spinning shamrock animation, dynamic patterns, and playful “lucky” transitions—creating a festive oceanfront spectacle visible across the California coastline.
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the date that many believe the patron saint of Ireland died in the year 461. The holiday has been celebrated in Ireland for over a thousand years. However, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601, in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Fla. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in New York City on March 17, 1772, to honor their homeland’s patron saint. Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and parades in New York City, Boston, and other early American cities only grew from there.
The “St. Patrick’s Day” Ferris wheel lights celebration can be watched online at https://www.pacpark.com/live.
The Pacific Wheel’s 174,000 LED lights are mounted on the Ferris wheel’s structure including the 40 spokes and two hubs. The world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel’s lighting system features 16.7 million color value combinations while the programming and display software presents imaging up to 24 frames per second to display dynamic, custom, computer-generated lighting entertainment. The eco-friendly, enhanced LED lighting provides 81 percent greater energy savings than most Ferris wheel’s traditional incandescent bulbs.
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