The rink will be open from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily in Union Square through January 20. New this year, the rink will host "Icebreaker: San Francisco Singles Night" on Thursday, December 5 from 8 to 9:30 p.m.; "Drag Queens on Ice: Bigger! Better!
ICE SKATING
Published: December, 2013
Safeway Holiday Ice Rink
The rink will be open from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily in Union Square through January 20. New this year, the rink will host "Icebreaker: San Francisco Singles Night" on Thursday, December 5 from 8 to 9:30 p.m.; "Drag Queens on Ice: Bigger! Better! Bawdier!" on Thursday, December 12 from 8 to 9:30 p.m.; and "Polar Bear Skate" on Tuesday, January 1 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., when ice skaters are encouraged to come in their favorite bathing suit and beach blanket apparel. For more information, see www.unionsquareicerink.com.
Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center
The Holiday Ice Rink, open through January 5, is located just steps from the Ferry Building and the California Street cable car line. The ring of the bells and the lights of the Embarcadero make skating at the Embarcadero Center an "Only in San Francisco" experience.
Yerba Buena Ice Skating
Located in an urban rooftop garden at Yerba Buena Garden, the view of the City from the rink’s wall of windows can only be described as dazzling. Open for public skating daily and skating lessons as well as private events and parties.
Red and White Fleet Introduces Twilight Cruise
For those that want to celebrate the holiday season with a festive, city lights-inspired bay tour, Red and White Fleet has packaged up San Francisco’s only Holiday Twilight Cruise, available at 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday from now through December 31, including the Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day holidays. On this casual two-hour cruise, passengers will enjoy views of the city’s spectacular nightscape, live guitar entertainment, light appetizers from the buffet and a hot or cold beverage from the bar. Aboard the Red and White Fleet’s historic ferry boats, the cruise passes along the dramatically lit skyline of San Francisco, the shoreline of Alcatraz and under the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges. For more information, see www.redandwhite.com.
Reindeer Romp at the San Francisco Zoo
Santa’s reindeer—Belle, Holly, Peppermint and Velvet—have just flown in to the San Francisco Zoo. Visitors are reminded to put on your favorite scarf, pick up a hot cocoa at the Lemur Café and head over to the Lion Fountain area to see and learn about these beautiful animals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at the San Francisco Zoo through January 1.
SPCA Holidays Windows at Macy’s Union Square
Visitors are invited to visit the 27th annual holiday windows display, featuring adoptable kitties and puppies from the San Francisco SPCA through January 5. The animals featured in the windows will be available for adoption inside the temporary SPCA Adoption Center on the first floor of Macy’s. Last year, 285 animals found new homes at the holiday windows event and more than $80,000 was raised to support the San Francisco SPCA’s lifesaving programs.
Holiday Lights Up
Artists have been utilizing light to illuminate art since the beginning of civilization. As a center of innovation, San Francisco has attracted these installations like moths to a flame and in a new series of exhibits, artists celebrate light with truly brilliant, eco-friendly light art exhibits. This convergence is being called Illuminate SF and consists of six temporary and/or permanent installations:
The Bay Lights by Leo Villareal
On the north side of the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Bay Lights is the world’s largest LED light sculpture—1.8 miles wide and 500 feet high. Its 25,000 white LED lights are individually programmed to create a never-repeating, dazzling display.
Firefly by Ned Kahn
Firefly is a nearly 12-story kinetic sculpture that was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s new state-of-the-art headquarters at 525 Golden Gate Ave. at Polk St. Kahn’s Firefly is a lattice of tens of thousands of five-inch-square, clear-polycarbonate panels hinged to allow them to move freely in the wind. At night, this movement is converted into light. As the wind presses the hinged panels inward, a small embedded magnet connected to an electrical reed switch triggers the flickering of tiny LED lights colored to mimic fireflies. The entire sculpture requires less energy than a 75W light bulb.
Language of the Birds by Brian Goggin and Dorka Keehn
Language of the Birds is a permanent sculpture located at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus. Each book mimics a bird in motion with various wing positions created by the forms of the pages and bindings. At night, LED lights embedded within the books create visual patterns. Passing under the flock, pedestrians will notice words and phrases embedded in the plaza floor that appear to have fallen from the pages above. On closer inspection, the fallen words are in English, Italian and Chinese and were selected from the neighborhood’s rich literary history.
Future’s Past by Kate Raudenbush
First exhibited at Burning Man 2010, Future’s Past is an intricate metal sculpture standing 24 feet tall in Patricia’s Green at Octavia and Hayes Streets. The 12-foot base of the piece recalls an ancient pyramid, and springing from its top is an ornate 12-foot Bodhi tree—a symbol of freedom from earthly attachments. At night, eerie green light shines through the finely-cut, circuit board-like patterns in the base’s walls. The mysterious, temple-like structure evokes an archeological account of another time, or even an alien culture.
Homouroboros by Peter Hudson
Located in the public plaza by the Exploratorium at Pier 15 Embarcadero, Homouroboros is a 24-feet-tall tree-like steel frame and mushroom, cloud-shaped canopy featuring 18 human-sized monkeys that dangle from its branches. By pounding on drums built into the base of the trunk, spectators cause the top of the tree to spin, turning the monkeys on their branches into a vision-bending arboreal escapade. Strobe lights at night and special goggles during the day complete the Homouroboros experience that turns the 18 monkeys into a three-dimensional motion picture. The monkeys appear as a single, animated monkey, snatching an apple from the mouth of a serpent slithering down a branch.
Three Gems by James Turrell
Located in the de Young Museum’s Osher Sculpture Garden in Golden Gate Park, Three Gems features a view of the sky altered by LED lighting effects highlighted by changing light and weather conditions outside. You can view the installation during museum hours of operation, and admission is required.
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