Glow Santa Monica 2013 Shines Bright on Saturday

Glow Santa Monica returns after a three-year hiatus on Saturday, September 28.

The all-night affair begins at 7 p.m. and goes until 3 a.m., with installations and special events set up throughout Downtown Santa Monica and down at the beach. Glow is the only Los Angeles art event where art meets the ocean, and it is the first all-night art event in the United States that emphasizes the commissioning of original artwork. Audience participation is encouraged.

After the first Glow in 2008, the City of Santa Monica followed up with another festival in 2010 that included a special light show on the pier’s Ferris wheel that could be seen from Pacific Palisades. This time, artist Victoria Vesna will create designs for the Ferris wheel with Octopus Mandala Glow (OMG), and will have a website where participants can upload pictures.

Several installations include performances, including the opening ceremony at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Colorado Avenue (7 p.m.), a puppet show at Crescent Bay Park (8, 9 and 10 p.m.) and “Java: Land of Dreams,” a concert and dance performance, north of the pier on the beach (8:30 p.m. and midnight).

Free apps are available to help navigate the evening and are available now. KCRW Glow Soundscape is an audio tour hosted by KCRW DJs; Steve Boyer’s Colorfields is a live interactive artwork that interprets crowd movement into fields of color, light and sound using your phone; and ParkMe gives real-time parking information and reservations.

Jacaranda music will present “The Rest Is Noise,” a free nighttime ride through 20th-century music, on the pier’s carousel. It is based on the bestselling-book, “The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century” by music critic Alex Ross. With 16 speakers and lighting effects, carousel riders will experience excerpts from 25 key works by 25 visionary composers in five minutes. “The Rest Is Noise” ride will include a multifaceted educational component accessed by smart phones.

Contact: glowsantamonica.org.