What to Know
- Monday, June 14
- Sunset (around 8:07 p.m.) to 12:30 a.m. on June 15
- Free to see in person or on the Ferris wheel's live cam
Seeing the hues of red, white, and blue on the fourteenth of June?
You might first notice that your neighbor has placed some old-fashioned bunting on her balcony, the kind of cloth that includes both stars and stripes.
Or maybe a store or business has graced its doorway with some garland, the kind of colorful touch that says a holiday has arrived.
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But few displays of Flag Day spirit around Southern California are quite as eye-catching, spectacularly shimmery, and high-to-the-sky as the one that's due to start at Pacific Park, at Santa Monica Pier, at 8:07 in the evening on Monday, June 14, 2021.
That time? It's when the sun will finally dip into the Pacific Ocean, and the lights of the Pacific Wheel, the amusement park's world-famous solar-powered Ferris wheel, will glimmer on with their singular gusto.
And they'll glimmer with patterns of red, white, and blue, as well as massive Ferris wheel-spanning flags, the sorts of sights that can be viewed from some distance away.
The giant Ferris wheel-covering flag, by the by, will be "waving," according the Pacific Park team, adding a moving, and moving, element (in both senses of the word).
The design of the American flag was officially adopted on June 14, 1777, a resolution of the Second Continental Congress.
The late-spring celebration traditionally finds homes, restaurants, and other locations displaying a flag, or numerous flags, near their entrances, as well as the occasional civic ceremony, convivial picnic, pomp-filled concert, and community commemoration.
And, yes: Colossal light shows, provided by 174,000 LED lights, on the sides of ocean-adjacent attractions.
But even if you can't stop by the pier on June 14, you can definitely admire the large-scale, super-celebratory show, for free, via its live cam.
The patriotic presentation wraps up at about a half hour past midnight, meaning the Flag Day festivities will roll just a bit into June 15.
