Get ready to see Santa Monica "glow" this Saturday

Gorgeous shot of Santa Monica Pier. Wait until Glow really lights it up! Photo: szeke via Flickr Creative Commons

Gorgeous shot of Santa Monica Pier. Wait until Glow really lights it up! Photo: szeke via Flickr Creative Commons

Santa Monica Pier is set to light up the night again with Glow on Saturday, September 28. Taking place from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. the next morning, the heart of Santa Monica will be transformed into a massive outdoor museum with 15 site-specific, interactive art projects that will illuminate the pier and beach. The event is free and open to the public.

While you’re in the area, check out the restaurants, spas and salons offering extended hours and special packages to celebrate the event.

Walking and biking are the best ways to get to Glow. Three bike valets will be operating free of charge: in Palisades Park, just south of the Pier in Hot Dog on a Stick’s parking lot, and in the parking lot west of Crescent Bay Park. The Bike Center at Colorado and 2nd Street will also be open late for bike rentals, repairs and valet.

To get there via Metro, take Metro Bus 20, 33 or Rapid 733 to Colorado/Ocean, or Metro Bus 4 to Broadway/Ocean. Bikes racks are available on all Metro buses. And remember – if you’re planning to stay until 3 a.m., not all of these buses run 24 hours. Here are the ones that do.

7 replies

  1. Mike, if you read the service change notice, ALL buses were supposed to travel to the “bus hub” at Olympic at 11th until cones were picked up. So they turned around at 14th to get to Olympic. Without the shuttle, the options were either to walk to Olympic and 11th – about half a mile south of Santa Monica Boulevard and 3/4 mile south of Wilshire – or to 14th. Either way it was over a mile from Glow, and my friend had a bad knee and couldn’t walk far, so we just hailed whatever cab was there and took it (they overcharged beyond the meter rate, for which I have another complaint, but that’s another story).

  2. Although I no longer work for the MTA I’m sure the buses did not detour and turn back at 14th Street. In addition I saw a comment that MTA should have supplimented service yet there was no complaint about Santa Monica Transit closing down service at 12:30AM. The event was in Santa Monica yet the Blue Bus ceased operation as usual at 12:30AM.

  3. The Santa Monica “shuttles” to the bus hub stopped running at 12:30 am, yet Metro buses still made their detours, which caused a lot of confusion. You had to walk all the way to 14th Street in order to catch a bus. Ultimately I gave up and took a cab instead back Downtown.

  4. I stayed until 1 AM and one BIG problem is that the “shuttles” that Big Blue Bus was running from the bus hub stopped running at 12:30 am, yet the buses still made their detours. I had to walk about a mile to 14th Street in order to catch a bus, and ultimately gave up when one never showed up and called a cab.

    • Hey Calwatch,

      Sorry you had to call a cab! But thanks for the feedback, I’ll pass it along and maybe they’ll work out something better for next year.

      Anna Chen
      Writer, The Source

  5. This is one event where the Metro Rapid buses should run 24 hours for the 720, 704 and 733. Just like how Metro rail runs all night long for concerts at the Rose Bowl.