Our three-year-long regional loss of the beloved Bay Lights is finally coming to an end, as the lights will be officially re-lit and razzle-dazzling the Bay Bridge again on Friday, March 20.<\/p>\n
Eagle-eyed Bay Area folk have lately been noticing that night-time testing has been underway over the last month<\/a> for the highly anticipated return of the Bay Lights<\/a>. And the new version will have the animated LED light display on the southern side of the Bay Bridge, as well as the north-facing side! The lights have been dark since 2023<\/a>, and we were originally told the lights would be back in early 2025<\/a>, then that got moved to the autumn of 2025<\/a>, and then delayed further again until March 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the third delay was the charm! Bay Lights organizers Illuminate<\/a> announced Thursday that the Bay Lights will be officially re-lit on Friday, March 20, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bay Lights belong to San Francisco,\u201d Illuminate founder Ben Davis said in a Thursday statement announcing the March 20 relighting date. \u201cThey\u2019re a reminder that beauty can live at the scale of infrastructure \u2014 and that awe can be part of a city\u2019s identity.\u201d<\/p>\n SF Mayor Daniel Lurie also chimed in on the same Thursday announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bay Lights are an iconic symbol of San Francisco and the entire Bay Area,\u201d Lurie said in the same press release. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to welcome back the light installation that will once again bring beauty and pride to our city and the whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n There is one catch that the traditionally lit northern side of the Bay Bridge will get its glow on again on March 20, but the new set of southern lights are not expected to be re-lit that evening. According to Illuminate, \u201cA second phase of the project, designed to expand visibility to additional Bay Area communities, will be introduced following completion of final safety testing and agency review.\u201d<\/p>\n If you can’t make it out on the night of Friday, March 20 \u2014 or if it\u2019s raining \u2014 the organizers at Illuminate say \u201cThe Grand Lighting ceremony will be broadcast live on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n