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.

Eagle-eyed Bay Area folk have lately been noticing that night-time testing has been underway over the last month for the highly anticipated return of the Bay Lights. 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, and we were originally told the lights would be back in early 2025, then that got moved to the autumn of 2025, and then delayed further again until March 2026.

But the third delay was the charm! Bay Lights organizers Illuminate announced Thursday that the Bay Lights will be officially re-lit on Friday, March 20, 2026.


“The Bay Lights belong to San Francisco,” Illuminate founder Ben Davis said in a Thursday statement announcing the March 20 relighting date. “They’re a reminder that beauty can live at the scale of infrastructure — and that awe can be part of a city’s identity.”

SF Mayor Daniel Lurie also chimed in on the same Thursday announcement.

“The Bay Lights are an iconic symbol of San Francisco and the entire Bay Area,” Lurie said in the same press release. “I’m thrilled to welcome back the light installation that will once again bring beauty and pride to our city and the whole region.”

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, “A 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.”

If you can't make it out on the night of Friday, March 20 — or if it’s raining — the organizers at Illuminate say “The Grand Lighting ceremony will be broadcast live on social media.”

Related: Looks Like the Bay Lights Will Be Coming Back On In March 2026, Though Maybe a Little Later [SFist]

Image: Illuminate