Now… San Francisco’s ‘Avatar-Like’ Forest Is Going Dark

The Entwined exhibit on display at SF’s Golden Gate Park inside the Peacock Meadow will fully dim on Sunday — just a week later after The Bay Lights were turned off.

Entwined — the human-made floral wonderland of 2,000-plus LED lights that debuted in December of 2020 — transformed Golden Gate Park’s Peacock Meadow into an Avatar-like forest back in December of 2022. 

The San Francisco exhibit has become a beloved local fixture since first debuting in 2020, attracting both locals and transients alike like moths to a porch light. 

It’s incredibly awe-inspiring; the towering, 20-foot-tall LED-embellished branches glow like bioluminescent deep sea creatures; during the historic rain storms of December and January, the LEDs reflected off a temporary pond that pooled around the display.

Since then, the Charles Gadeken-designed public light display had been extended after it initially debuted. (This year, ­San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department — who partnered with Bay Area-based Gadeken — came through with their promise of making Entwined better than ever… and “fixing” a few things that have gone wrong in the past.)

 

But, alas, all good things must come to an end; Entwined will go dark on March 12th.

“This Sunday, March 12, is the last day to check out [Entwined] at Golden Gate Park, but before the installation is taken down, we’re going out with a bang,” reads a tweet from the SF Park Alliance, teasing a host of goodies that’ll be present on March 11th: “stop by this Saturday for a closing party with free drinks, food trucks, and music by local marching band [Extra Action.]”

The closing celebration will take place this upcoming Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., offering attendees a chance to sponge up the lights before the installation is taken down the following week.

After debuting in 2020, Entwined has returned every subsequent year, but it remains unclear if the installation will come back in December. 

Though, unlike The Bay Lights, Entwined’s return doesn’t seem to rest on whether or not millions of dollars are raised to see the exhibit up again.

Leave a Reply