Posted on December 1, 2024 by jeffgarcia
Let’s Glow SF, the country’s largest holiday projection event, will return to downtown San Francisco for the 2024 holiday season.
From December 6th through 15th, this free outdoor holiday event will use high-tech projectors and lasers to showcase whimsical, large-scale pieces of animated art across the facade of eight iconic SF buildings from 5:30-10:00 PM nightly (shows begin at 7 PM on the first evening of the event).
Let’s Glow SF is hosted by The Downtown SF Partnership, the community benefit district that oversees 43 blocks across San Francisco’s Financial District and Jackson Square Historic District. The signature event is part of citywide efforts to activate downtown’s public realm and increase programming as a form of placemaking across the city and is partially funded through an economic recovery grant from the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development and Office of Mayor London N. Breed.
2024 Let’s Glow SF Festival Dates:
- December 6-15, 2024 – 5:30-10pm nightly
- Opening Night Celebration: December 6, 2024 – 5-7pm
2024 Show Locations (map)
- Ferry Building (1 Ferry Building) – Best viewed from Harry Bridges Plaza
- Salesforce Tower (415 Mission St,) – View this beautiful show from anywhere in the district
- 101 California St
- Annie Alley (665 Market St.) – Best viewed from 10 Annie St.
- The Crossing at East Cut (250 Main St.) – Best viewed at 250 Main St.
- One Bush Plaza (1 Bush St) – Best viewed from 525 Market Street Plaza
- Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (301 Pine St) – Best viewed from 300 Pine Street
- PG&E Substation (425 Folsom St.) – Best viewed at the Pedestrian Plaza at 420 Folsom St.
For more information please visit the link below
https://downtownsf.org/things-to-do/lets-glow-sf
https://sf.funcheap.com/event-series/downtowns-glow-sf-tall-building-light-festival/
Posted on November 30, 2024 by vcontreras
For more than a century, Fairmont San Francisco has enchanted guests with holiday festivities and exuberant ambiance. This season, Fairmont’s elves were back at it once again working overtime to create a dazzling, unparalleled winter display.
On display from November 23, 2024 through the New Year, the hotel transforms into one of the world’s most beloved holiday destinations, where moments are turned into cherished memories. Fairmont San Francisco’s two-story, life-sized Gingerbread House in the hotel’s grand lobby has become a must-see attraction for guests from near and far.
With thousands of bricks of real gingerbread baked by the Fairmont’s pastry team and pounds of See’s Candies, the Gingerbread House display brings out the kid in everyone.
The Fairmont’s Gingerbread House 2024
On view from right before Thanksgiving through the New Year
Open daily (typically from 11 am – 10 pm)
The Fairmont, 950 Mason St., SF
FREE and open to the public in the hotel’s lobby
Each year, the Gingerbread House takes center stage and fills the halls with its sweet aroma, but the property’s 23-foot tall Christmas tree, surrounded by a festive holiday train and seasonal decorations, in the main lobby is also impressive in its own right.
Fairmont San Francisco
Fun Facts about the Fairmont’s Gingerbread House:
520 hours are spent each year building, lighting, and outfitting a life-sized Victorian gingerbread house
8,000 baked bricks cover the two-story structure
The life size gingerbread house stands 25 feet high, 35 feet wide, and nearly 11 feet deep
450 hours are spent decorating the bricks with icing and sweets
How is the Fairmont’s Gingerbread House Built?
Fairmont engineering and culinary teams begin planning the gingerbread house in July, which is also when crews begin baking 12- by 4-inch gingerbread bricks to cover the home’s wooden frame.
As the holidays draw near, builders frame the rooms, set the roof, and prepare the structure for decorations. “When it’s complete, each gingerbread brick gets placed by hand, and the pastry people pipe icing along every single grout line,” Walton says (that icing requires more than 1,000 pounds of powdered sugar and around 150 gallons of egg whites).
Teams then tackle the sweet job of outfitting the gingerbread house with candy, from Peeps to gumdrops to strands of Nerds Rope in all colors of the rainbow. There are candy canes, of course, and in past years, designers have attached individual Hershey’s Miniatures bars to the walls with icing. When it’s complete, more than 1,900 pounds of candy adorn the Fairmont’s gingerbread house.
Walton, a self-described tinkerer, also creates magical holiday accents for the house, often from everyday items. He turns industrial air filters into snow-dusted hills, and motors salvaged from office shredders and windshield wipers power reindeer rocking chairs and swirling snowflake mobiles. His hand-cut shadow puppets even star in a holiday video aired inside the house.
As any avid baker (or Great British Bake-Off viewer) will know, sometimes, there are mishaps in creating a confectionary masterpiece — one year, the lobby lights even melted the home’s chocolate-covered roof. But unexpected surprises (both planned and accidental) charm hotel guests and public visitors alike throughout the season.
After the holidays, Walton removes the interior electronics and teams tear down the structure. The framework gets recycled, and the bricks, candy, and other edible ingredients are composted. The Fairmont lobby returns to normal, but the holiday spirit lingers until the next season.
“The gingerbread house is definitely a challenge, but we’re all glad to be part of the project. To watch kids light up as they explore, and to see adults marvel at the little nuances, is all really incredible,” Walton says.
For more information please visit the link below:
https://sf.funcheap.com/city-guide/sfs-lifesize-gingerbread-house-the-fairmont/
Posted on November 27, 2024 by jeffgarcia
The San Francisco Botanical Garden is one of the most diverse gardens in the world. A unique urban oasis, the garden is a living museum within Golden Gate Park, offering 55 acres of both landscaped gardens and open spaces, and showcasing over 9,000 different kinds of plants from around the world.
he garden is always free for San Francisco residents, but visitors can also enjoy this treasure for free on the second Tuesday of every month; plus it’s free on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day for everyone.
San Francisco Botanical Garden Free Days
- Second Tuesday of every month
- Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year’s Day
- Free daily from 7:30–9 am
- Always free for San Francisco city and county residents (with proof of residency)
- Always free for Garden members and school groups
Regular cost: $17 adults (weekends), $14 adults (weekdays); $7/youth and seniors; $3/children; free/4 years and younger
Hours
Open Daily at 7:30am-Last Entry
The Garden closes one hour after last entry. Last entry changes seasonally.
Spring & Summer Last Entry
2nd Sunday in March – September: 6pm
Fall & Winter Last Entry
February – 2nd Sunday in March: 5pm
October – Early November: 5pm
1st Sunday in November – January: 4pm
Free Times: Daily 7:30-9am; Second Tuesday of every month; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day
Garden Bookstore and Plant Shop
Open Daily, 10am-4pm
Open on Federal Holidays
The Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture
Open Daily except Thursday, 10am-4pm
Closed on Federal Holidays
For more information please visit the link below
https://gggp.org/san-francisco-botanical-garden/
https://sf.funcheap.com/free-admission-day-san-francisco-botanical-garden-11/
