S.F.'s new laser light show tranforms Civic Center sky into art for ‘Summer of Awe'
On the longest day of the year, a few hundred people stood on the gravel or sat on the wet lawn of San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza, staring straight up and waiting forever for darkness. Finally, at 9:10 p.m. Sunday, a switch was thrown and 49 high-powered laser beams went straight up into the fog, in an array of colors creating a fantasia.
It was the ceremonial lighting of "7x7," a temporary work of public art that will form a grid pattern in brilliant color every night through the July Fourth weekend in this summer's light show by Illuminate, the San Francisco nonprofit responsible for "The Bay Lights" on the San Francisco span of the Bay Bridge, a horizontal rainbow beam fired from laser cannon up Market Street during Pride Weekend, neon signage in the Castro and a series of light sculptures along JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park.
That project took two years to organize and drew hundreds. Sunday night's opening "wasn't even an idea 38 days ago," said Ben Davis, Illuminate founder and chief visionary officer, who turned out in a yellow nightclub suit down to the "shoes of yellow dreams," topped by a white fake fur jacket off of Liberace's rack. Davis noted that the permits came through in record time without a hangup. "The city that knows how, and forgot, is starting to remember," said Davis, who has given the city his own nickname, the "City of Awe."
Civic Center Plaza is under the radar as a city park, and "7x7" will bring visibility with its laser in space provided by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. Rec and Park granted a permit for Sunday night's opening and granted park usage for the nightly show, which will run from sunset to sunrise.
"One of the things that makes San Francisco such a great place to live is that you can find moments of joy, beauty and connection in our public spaces," said Sarah Madland, Rec and Park general manager. "Projects like ‘7X7' bring people together, activate our civic spaces, and create experiences that are free and accessible to everyone."
Illuminate often collaborates with Burning Man artists and in his remarks, Davis noted that Sunday night was the 40th anniversary of the first burn, out at Baker Beach. Illuminate has built its own following since the first interaction of "The Bay Lights" in 2013. Its annual installations have become a rite of summer, this year happening on its first day. Last summer, Illuminate drew hundreds on a cold Monday night to a dark and inaccessible part of Golden Gate Park for the lighting of "Naga," a 100-foot-long sea serpent installed in the pond at the base of Rainbow Falls.
Sunday's event kicked off what Davis called the "Summer of Awe," as provided by Illuminate. But it was 50 degrees with the wind chill and the ceiling was dropping to the tops of the truss, 20 feet off the gravel.
"It's going to be interesting," said Davis, impervious to the cold with his shirt unbuttoned at the neck and a pair of sunglasses hanging on it for effect. "I think it is going to be beautiful."
The 49 columns of light represent the 49 square miles of San Francisco, broken down into seven rows of 7. The possibilities in the color combinations were limitless. Davis had all 48 flags of the countries in the World Cup mapped out and available for recreating in the sky.
As a grid, it resembles the straight lines on an Ed Ruscha painting. The colors can be adjusted and will change with the theme, like the light show on the City Hall dome just across the plaza.
"With the summer solstice, Pride, six World Cup matches, San Francisco's 250th and America's 250th all in the span of two weeks, it's an amazing stretch here in the city," Davis said. "The world will be looking at San Francisco, and ‘7X7' is our chance to inspire millions."
Davis is prone to exaggeration, but "7x7" inspired hundreds on its first night and will surely be more inspiring when and if the fog lifts. The test night, Saturday, was perfectly clear, so the opening night had to be foggy.
That's how the fireworks fog always behaves, and there was no reason to believe it would be any different for a laser show opening.
"It's freezing out here," said Paddy Mockler of Concord, who came with two friends and three beach towels to spread out on the lawn.
After the obligatory countdown, the laser lights came on and the crowd walked among, phones pointed up as thumping disco music played.
It was purple on one side and blue on the other. Wandering beneath it, Mission District residents Brady Forrest and Flo Marlow were compelled to be the first to kiss under the laser lights.
"Beauty and love," said Forrest, who had loaned Marlow his blue bathrobe with little red foxes on it to fend off the cold, and also to match his fox tattoo.
"This is exactly what San Francisco needs," Forrest said. "It needs to support the arts and continue to own the weird."
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 2:04 AM.