Santa Monica Glow Festival Information

By Kelly Hartog

Starting at 7 p.m. and running through 3 a.m. Saturday night, Santa Monica will host the third iteration of Glow, the city’s signature cultural event and the nation’s only nighttime arts celebration focused exclusively on original artwork.

Glow has commissioned 15 site-specific, interactive art projects to illuminate Santa Monica’s iconic pier and beach. Organizers expect more than 150,000 people to attend, so  here are some things you need to know:

Food, Drink & Hotel Specials

To welcome visitors to Glow, many Santa Monica restaurants will have specials, as well as extended hours, with local hotels offering special rates and package. In addition, Santa Monica’s best spas and salons are offering specials on facials, and other beauty treatments, with additional discounts on yoga classes to maintain the after-glow. Glow specials are available at santamonica.com/glow. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Getting to Glow

Walking and biking are the best ways to get to and around the Glow zone. Three bike valets will be operating free of charge: (1) in Palisades Park just south of Broadway, (2) immediately south of the pier in Hot Dog on a Stick’s parking lot, and (3) in the parking lot west of Crescent Bay Park between Bay Street and Bicknell Avenue. 

The Bike Center at Colorado Avenue and 2nd Street will be open late for bike rentals, bike repair and bike valet. Streets in the Glow zone will be closed to vehicular traffic in the late afternoon, but open all night to bikes and pedestrians. Bicycle rental is widely available in Santa Monica, and several vendors are offering specials for Glow, including Bike Attack, Pedego Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Bike Center.

If driving, carpool and park in the easy-to-get-to, low-cost beach lots south of Pico Boulevard. Flat-rate parking from $5-20 will be in effect in all city lots west of Lincoln Boulevard starting at 4 p.m. 

Real-time parking availability, as well as parking reservations can be accessed online at www.glowsantamonica.org. 

For more information on transportation to Glow, including Big Blue Bus special routing for the event, visit glowsantamonica.org/gettingtoglow or http://bigbluebus.com/ and click on the Glow icon.

Street Closures

•  Ocean Avenue between Wilshire Boulevard and Moomat Ahiko Way (PCH ramp)

•  Santa Monica Boulevard between Ocean Avenue and 2nd Street

•  Broadway between Ocean Avenue and 2nd Street

•  Colorado Ave. between Ocean Ave. and 2nd St.

•  Colorado Ave. between 4th St. and 5th St.

•  Main St. NB between Olympic Dr. and Colorado Ave.

•  SB PCH Ocean Ave. exit

•  Ocean Ave. ramp to NB PCH

Performance Schedule

7 p.m. Opening Ceremony, intersection of Ocean and Colorado, Downtown Santa Monica

7:30 p.m. CAP Summer Arts Program in Dance at GLOWbal, by Karen Atkinson

8 p.m.  A Puppet Show, Crescent Bay Park

8:30 p.m. Java: Land of Dreams concert and dance performance, north of the pier on the beach

9 p.m.  A Puppet Show, Crescent Bay Park

10 p.m. Colorfields experience in front of Sea Castle Apartments

10 p.m. A Puppet Show, Crescent Bay Park

Midnight Java: Land of Dreams concert and dance performance north of the pier on the beach

Explore Glow with Your Mobile Phone

Enhance your Glow experience by downloading in advance the mobile options available. KCRW has created a GlowSoundscape, a downloadable audio guide to the event hosted by KCRW DJs. It includes artists talking about their creations and music for the journey. It also acts as a navigation tool with details on where to find each installation the night of the event. It’s available for download at kcrw.com/glow. 

To download directly to a mobile device go to kcrw.com/glowmobile. 

Artist Steve Boyer’s installation uses a custom app that will prompt color changes on iPhones/Androids as visitors move within the Colorfields zone, a 10,000-square-foot area on the beach. A special gathering/experience will happen at 10 p.m. The app can be downloaded at either glowsantamonica.org or kcrw.com/glow. 

Download the official Glow Parking App, ParkMe, for real-time parking information and reservations.

Accessibility at Glow

Glow has increased its accessibility efforts in a variety of ways, including easier access to more of the art works, enhanced resources such as an Access Station and an Access Guide. 

For more information, visit glowsantamonica.org/accessibilty.