What to Know
- The Pacific Wheel is paying tribute to Paris 2024 with a nightly light display
- July 26-Aug. 11, 2024; the free show begins at sunset and concludes at 12:30 a.m.
- The American flag, the French flag, and the Olympic rings will sparkle on the side of the 9-story Ferris wheel
Wishing you could be perambulating through Paris as you prepare to cheer for the 2024 Summer Games in person?
Plenty of fans will be rooting for the incredible Olympians from afar, including around Southern California, where watch parties, some boasting a French flair in honor of the event's host country, will be in full flower.
But if you'd like to observe the iconic Olympic rings in full glow, you'll want to head to one of the biggest ring-shaped attractions in the region: The Pacific Wheel, the celebrated solar-powered Ferris wheel.
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The shimmering ride rotates daily at Pacific Park at Santa Monica Pier, but when a special happening is taking place, even across the globe? You can count on the 9-story structure to possess an air of festive spetacle.
And from July 26 through Aug. 11, it shall: Look for inspiring and enormously imagined odes to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
"The nightly light program features the five colored rings to symbolize the Olympic rings, which have represented the games internationally for over 110 years, a spectacular 90-foot-tall waving American flag to cheer on the nearly 600 athletes that make up Team USA, a French flag for the current host country and the American flag for host country 2028," shared a Pacific Park representative.
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Some 174,000 LED lights will contribute to the colorful spectacular, which will begin around sundown each night.
It's free to see, and there's a webcam, too, if you can't make it to the pier.