This morning, a crowd gathered on the Embarcadero and on the patio behind Epic Roasthouse to watch the final hour of the Bay Lights before it went dark for the last time this year. As you recall, Leo Villareal's 25,000-LED light sculpture will be on hiatus for the next 11 months while Caltrans does maintenance work on the cables, and will return in early 2016. The proceedings got under way at 5:45, and when we rolled in at about 6:15 looking for the coffee and free pastries promised, none were to be had for latecomers. But at least there were Beatles covers!
As the sun rose, the lights got harder and harder to see. The San Francisco Symphony's Sunrise String Quartet launched into a rendition of "Here Comes the Sun."
Here's one last look at the lights in the dark, via an attendee of last night's farewell:
· Stunning Photos of the Bay Lights As It Prepares to Go Dark [Curbed SF]