The Bay Lights are an iconic public art installation that the nonprofit Illuminate SF has brought to the city. They first made their debut in 2013 and became an instant hit. With 25,000 LED lights covering the western portion of the bridge, they’re an impressive sight. The bridge has gone dark since the end of 2023, but now the lights are officially making a comeback.
The lights were a temporary, two-year installation and even had a second run in 2016. Since 2023, Illuminate has been running a fundraising campaign to secure the millions needed to create the third iteration of the beloved installation.
This January, Illuminate announced they were close to reaching their daunting $11 million funding goal, and the possibility of the lights returning for 2024 seemed closer than ever.
Today, Illuminate announced that they have secured the necessary funding of $10 million to once again light up the Bay Bridge. The nonprofit still has an ongoing fundraising campaign to raise the remaining $1 million for the project, but with $10 million secured, they are able to start the process of installing the thousands of lights. The process is unsurprisingly long, and the target date for completion is March 2025.
The plan for the new installation is to double the number of lights, from the already impressive 25,000 to 50,000, with what illuminate founder Ben Davis has named The Bay Lights 360. The installation is by artist Leo Villareal, who is well-known for his beautiful light installations, including illuminating the Thames in London in 2021.
About Illuminate SF
The installation is one of Illuminate’s many projects in San Francisco. The nonprofit was founded in 2011 to create large-scale public artworks to showcase San Francisco’s beauty and vibrancy. The nonprofit has been responsible for many iconic SF installations, such as the Grace Light in the historic Grace Cathedral, the lights that illuminate the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park’s Golden Mile project, and many more throughout the years. Their projects are often wildly popular, so it’s no surprise so many people rallied to fund the iconic Bay Lights once again.