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Let’s Glow SF 2025: A Festive Night Out in San Francisco
Updated: 4 days ago
Let's Glow SF 2026 is returning to downtown San Francisco from December 4–13, bringing colorful animated light projections to some of the city's most iconic buildings! This free holiday light festival has become one of our favorite San Francisco Christmas traditions, and after attending in previous years, we're sharing our review, favorite displays, and tips for planning a festive night out.
During our 2025 visit, we turned Let's Glow SF into a full night out, walking between the light installations and stopping at nearby holiday-themed bars along the way. By planning a walkable route, we were able to enjoy the projections while making the evening feel extra festive! Below, we're sharing the Let's Glow SF 2026 event details, along with our experience from previous years to help you plan your own holiday night out in San Francisco.
Let's Glow SF 2026 Event Details
Event Name: Let's Glow SF
Location: Downtown San Francisco
Dates: December 4–13, 2026
Time: Check the official schedule for confirmed 2026 projection hours
Cost: Free to attend
Best Way to Experience: Walking between the installations
Good to Know: Projection locations and special events can change each year.
For the latest projection locations, event schedule, and announcements, check the official Let's Glow SF website before your visit.
Our Let's Glow SF Experience: A Festive Walking Route
We've visited Let's Glow SF in previous years, and one of our favorite ways to experience the festival is to make a full night out of it! During our 2025 visit, we followed a walking route through downtown San Francisco, stopping at the light projections and a few holiday-themed bars along the way. Below is the route we took, including our favorite displays, festive drink stops, and what we'd do differently next time. Keep in mind that projection locations and holiday pop-ups may change for 2026.
Stop One - Ferry Building:
We chose to start at the Ferry Building, it is easy to get to on most transit, there's plenty of parking nearby, and they have a bunch of restaurants inside! If you get to the Ferry Building before the projections start at 5:30 PM you can grab a quick bite to eat, or get some caffeine for an energy boost. We have a full guide about our favorite bites in the Ferry Building here!
Stop Two - 101 California Street:
From the Ferry Building it is a short ten minute walk to the next stop, 101 California Street. This stop has the cutest giant ornament display, which makes for a perfect photo op and has plenty of outdoor seating to watch the projection show.
Stop Three - Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Redwood Park at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid has a cozy outdoor viewing area and bar set up for the projection, with outdoor lounge chairs, a bar serving alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, and warm glowing lanterns. The projection show at this location was one of our absolute favorites, with a beautifully animated story of the building's history.
Stop Four - Blitzen’s Holiday Pop Up Bar at Monte’s
This bar is seriously so cute, and decorated from floor to ceiling with holiday decor! Located at Monte’s Bar in the lobby of the Omni hotel, this place was packed every time we checked to see if they had a table! Unfortunately, we didn't get to try their drinks, but they were definitely in the Holiday spirit!
Stop Five: The Vault Garden:
Across the street from Blitzen’s is The Vault Garden’s outdoor Holiday pop up. They have a cozy decorated outdoor patio overlooking a giant Christmas tree, outdoor heaters, and open lounge seating. They have a holiday menu with movie themed drinks, think the Grinch, Home Alone, and the drink we ordered based off of the movie Krampus. They have food as well, which was on the pricey side at about $40 a plate. They did also have some light bites, and we opted to share a plate of the pistachio beignets which were pretty tasty. For one themed cocktail and an order of beignets we paid about $45 with gratuity.
Stop Six - 301 Pine Street:
301 Pine Street is the old Pacific Coast Stock Exchange building, and has very unique and interesting architecture, which is highlighted by the amazing projection show! The street is blocked off in sections so you can get a closer view, and is definitely a location you don't want to skip!
Stop Seven - 488 Market Street:
488 Market street is slightly different from the other Lets Glow SF projections, it's a collection of statues that do a light show. This is a quick stop, and there is honestly not much to see here! One highlight is that you can see the salesforce tower projection show from here as well!
Optional Stop - Union Square:
San Francisco’s Union Square is an iconic spot, with some of the best Holiday decorations in the city! From the massive Macy’s tree, to the Macy’s storefront with dozens of lit wreaths, and the ice skating rink, this is such a fun spot to walk through on the way to 828 market street! They even have a trail of giant, painted ornaments that line the path! If you have the time, it's definitely worth the pit stop!
Stop Eight: Nightingales The Merriest Bar Pop Up:
The Nightingales Bar is hosting a Holiday pop up called the Merriest Bar, and completely transformed their place into the jolliest joint on the block. With wall to wall tinsel, thousands of colorful lights, and a drink menu that's bound to get you feeling merry and bright, this bar is a must visit on your night out! We ordered two of their egg nog cocktails (Tobbogin nog) and paid about $38 total.
Stop Nine - 828 Market Street:
The projection show at 828 market street brings the Hobart building to life with beautiful animations. This location does not have any seating, and the show turned off promptly at 10 pm! We only caught the tail end of it because we lost track of time at the Merriest Bar!
Final Stop of the Night - Sippin' Santa at Kona’s:
Kona’s is a tiki style bar with pinball machines and a pool table, but is currently serving up Holiday cocktails and mocktails with their Sippin' Santa pop up! From a giant Shirtless surfing Santa when you walk in, to the wrapping paper covered walls and tables, this place is definitely in the Christmas spirit! We ordered one cocktail, and one mocktail, and paid $53 with gratuity. Our big complaint is that a mocktail with no alcohol was $18, and a cocktail was $20! Crazy expensive for some juice and seltzer water! So if you're designated driver, stick to water here!
Overall Experience: Is Let's Glow SF Worth Visiting?
Let’s Glow SF makes downtown San Francisco feel lively and festive during the holiday season, and turning the event into a full night out made it even more enjoyable for us! Walking between the projection sites, stopping for drinks along the way, and taking in the artwork at our own pace created a relaxed but celebratory atmosphere.
While this isn’t something we’d do multiple times in one season, it’s a fun way to experience the city at night and break up the walk between installations. If you’re looking for a holiday outing that blends art, city views, and seasonal energy, this Let’s Glow SF bar crawl males for a festive night out in San Francisco!