Illuminate's "7X7" puts 49 searchlight beams above Civic Center Plaza from June 21 through July 4 — one per square mile of SF, free, with color shifts for Pride weekend and the Fourth of July.

Starting this Saturday, June 21, Illuminate — the nonprofit behind Bay Lights — is firing 49 searchlight beams into the sky above Civic Center Plaza. The installation is called "7X7": SF is roughly 7 by 7 miles, 49 square miles total, one beam for each. It runs through July 4, it's free, and the beams are designed to be visible across the city and the Bay.

The color program tracks the calendar. Beams go rainbow through Pride weekend; they shift to red, white, and blue for July 4, which marks both SF's 250th anniversary and the country's. Ben Davis, Illuminate's founder, put the timing plainly: "With the summer solstice, Pride, six World Cup matches, San Francisco's 250th and America's 250th all in the span of two weeks — the world will be looking at San Francisco."

Specific hours aren't confirmed yet; Illuminate's previous installations (Bay Lights, the 2025 Pride laser show on Market Street) ran dusk to dawn, so that's the reasonable expectation — but verify before you make the trip.

The installation is at Civic Center Plaza, 355 McAllister Street. Civic Center/UN Plaza BART is directly below; don't drive. Because these are searchlights pointing up, not a ground-level light show, the best view might not be from the plaza itself — find high ground (Alamo Square, Twin Peaks, the Embarcadero) if you want the full effect in context.