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SF City Hall Lights Up Amber for Thanksgiving 2025

EVENT UPDATE: There are no upcoming events known for this event series - please check the organizer website for any updates.

San Francisco’s City Hall and its 220+ state-of-the-art LED lighting fixtures will illuminate in beautiful shades of amber in celebration of Thanksgiving, November 27, 2025.

It’s a great photo opportunity to capture San Francisco’s iconic dome lit up for the occasion.

The schedule is always tentative for the holiday lighting and subject to change when there are special events and the building is lit in honor of those. Check San Francisco City Hall for the latest updates.

About City Hall’s Exterior Lighting

Every evening at sunset, over 220 state-of-the-art LED lighting fixtures illuminate City Hall’s exterior. Normally, a soft white glow shows off the play of light and shadow on the full façade and dome. Frequently, special plaza façade lighting schemes honor or celebrate events, seasons, and holidays.
Until 2016, the lights were standard incandescent bulbs. Changing their colors was expensive and time-consuming; two to three building staff members, plus a crew of four staff from a lighting contractor, spent hours crawling in and out of office windows and onto the rooftop to install colored theatrical gels on each of the 220 fixtures, even in bad weather. For removal of the gels, the whole process happened in reverse.

Power use is now much lower, and with just an occasional cleaning, maintaining the fixtures is much easier: LED bulbs last as long as 20 years.

November 2025’s SF City Hall Lighting Events

City Hall will feature special lighting displays on the following dates in November 2025:

  • Saturday, November 1, 2025 – orange/gold – in recognition of Día de los Muertos
  • Monday, November 3, 2025 – purple – in recognition of Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
  • Tuesday, November 4, 2025 – red/white/blue – in recognition of Election Day
  • Tuesday, November 11, 2025 – red/white/blue – in recognition of Veteran’s Day Holiday
  • Friday, November 14, 2025 – blue – in recognition of World Diabetes Day
  • Tuesday, November 18, 2025 – red/white/red – in recognition of National Day of Latvia
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2025 – red/white – in recognition of National Day of Monaco
  • Thursday, November 20, 2025 – blue/pink/white – in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance
  • Tuesday, November 25, 2025 – orange – in recognition of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
  • Thursday, November 27, 2025 – shades of amber – in recognition of Thanksgiving Holiday
  • Sunday, November 30, 2025 – periwinkle blue – in recognition of Stomach Cancer Awareness Day

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