Bay Lights Relighting Hits a Snag, They Probably Won’t Be Back On Until Fall or Winter 2025
Mar 21, 2025
Some dimming news about the relighting of the Bay Bridge's famed Bay Lights, as the lights themselves have hit a glitch, and the display’s return appears to be delayed by at least six months.After what had been an on-and-off run dating back to 2013, the celebrated Bay Lights LED display on the Bay
Bridge went dark in 2023. But there was always a flicker of hope that the lights would return, and sure enough, we learned in December that the Bay Lights were scheduled to return in winter 2025.The long-awaited return of the Bay Lights art installation to the Bay Bridge has been delayed after project leaders discovered a problem with the lights.https://t.co/o3Uz0e0bbU— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) March 21, 2025 Yet now two days into spring 2025, we get news of another short-circuit. The Chronicle reports that the relighting of the Bay Lights is delayed, as a number of the LEDs are malfunctioning. Nearly all of the lights will reportedly have to be removed and reinstalled after a lengthy repair. Ben Davis, founder and CEO of the arts organization Illuminate, which manages the lights, told the Chronicle they were now hoping to turn the display in Fall 2025, or “before the end of the year, for sure.”“The goal here is not to go fast but to get it absolutely right,” Davis added to the Chronicle.“Elegance is an arduous journey.”Indeed, one of the reasons for the lengthy delay will be that Caltrans is scheduled to inspect some of the bridge's cables for maintenance between April and July. You can’t cut corners on these safety issues for the sake of an art project, no matter how impressive the art project may be.The heavy rains this past November delayed the lights’ reinstallation. Then in December, crews discovered that some of the lights simply didn’t work. So they had to come down for maintenance, as well as reprogramming, so the animated display works properly.But this six-month or so delay figures to be worth the wait. This rebooted Bay Lights show will feature twice as many lights, and will adorn both sides of the bridge so it can be seen from all angles.Related: Don’t Fall for That Facebook Post Claiming the Bay Lights are Coming Back on March 7, Because They’re Not [SFist]Image via Leo Villareal ...read more read less
