some of the best parts were the living garbage sea creatures under the pier and projections on the fountain of mist. we also rode the ferris wheel for the first time. i'd say it was fun, but we showed up at 145 am and it had cleared out a bit by then

and by peer i mean pier.

Ray Johnson is alive and well. It was a brilliant art prank.

When you actually *have* art, people stay away in droves. Only by *not* really having any were they able to have 40,000 people wandering around trying to find some.

It was performance art at its absolute finest.

Having no music at all (for the two hours I was there) was the apple in the pig's mouth. Nice touch.

"Joke's on you! YOU'RE THE ART! Here's a mirror."

question...where the hell was that glowing worm-like thing seen in the picture above? a friend and i went around 4pm, and were severely disappointed.

The art and music at Glow were extremely underwhelming. But it was pretty sweet to see a crowd of people like that in Santa Monica.

Glow was falsely advertised.

Actually, the marketing campaign might have been the biggest success. Cuz the event sucked. Art? If that's what you call colored light bulbs behind rice paper, well then there was art.

I was there b/n 10 and 12 and it was just way too crowded to enjoy.

Maybe it got better after the crowd died out, and if I had been on mood-altering substances...

I had a blast from 1am to 7am. many people made their own art and I liked how everything was interactive.

They needed more refreshments than a Starbucks, but at least the bathrooms were open.

Photo essay still to come...

I overheard a city cop tell a vendor that having Glow in the summer is a resource nightmare considering there are lots of cops out on vacation during that time. He seemed to indicate that the next Glow event will not be in the summer.

This event was a disaster.

They had no clear vision for what the event would be.

They were not prepared for the crowds that turned out.

When they chose to eliminate the DJs they nuked the fridge.

The "art" was a joke, even by LA standards. One display consisted of glow sticks in the sand for people to play with. This things was a seven-figure petting zoo gone terribly, terribly wrong.

The trash sea creatures under the pier were the highlight but a member of the security staff (I'm not 6 and heard you the first time you said don't touch, I was just taking a picture) was so rude (possibly insane?!?) that I wished one of the creatures would come to life and drag her into the waves.

Whoever planned this should be re-assigned to the 405 to count cars.

That said the concept of an all night community event clearly played in a town with a 1:30AM last call...but who will pull it off?

I live in Santa Monica near Main Street and Ocean Park. Have to say I agree with the comment about the lack of quantity and quality of the exhibits.
The event really needed more large pieces like the color projection fountain, and more live music or food concessions.

As for the crowds and the traffic, now you know why Santa Monica no longer does 4th of July fireworks off the SM Pier.

Overall, I thought it was much ado about nothing. Glad I live close enought to walk with friends. We ended up back on Main Street having a couple of beers.

Funniest line of the night... At one point on the pier SMPD was escorting an ambulance through the crowd... somebody shouted "They're dying of boredom!" Hilarious.

Was out at GLOW from 2am to 5am. We walked over from main street on the coastline... what a trip to see so many people out on the sand at night. I knew this event was going to be packed when I overheard an old Polish woman at the gym telling her friends about it. and packed it was, I couldn't see the street under the mass of people walking down to the pier from Ocean Ave.

Underwhelmed by the art. Except the installation under the Pier, that was brillilant. I'm sure we didn't see all of it, but I agree with commenter above that there needed to be more large scale light exhibits. Things that make you want to wander toward them. Or something with lasers. Extremely disappointed that there were no lasers!

We couldn't find the DJs, and the pier itself was pretty barren of any artwork out of the ordinary, so we decided to ride the new ferris wheel. By the time we got off the wheel, they were clearing out Pacific Park... at 3:30am? We had to get a refund on the rest of our ride tickets.

Headed over to the Carousel, and by the time we got there, the lights were on and they were clearing that out too. Overheard someone say that people were climbing on the carousel and they had to stop the music.

Sigh.

So basically by 4am everything was closed. Restaurants on the Pier that said they would be open all night (ahem, Bubba Gump) were closed down. Not sure if ones on the promenade were open, but thought the nearby restauraunts severely missed a chance to bank on 40,000 people with munchies. If there was a glowing bacon wrapped hot dog cart out there, they would have made millions.

Poor Norms on Lincoln didn't know GLOW was going on or make any preparations and apparently their hostess walked out on the job right when we got there at 5.

So while the event left a lot to be desired, there was a lot of fun to be had people watching and taking photos of people passed out in amusing locations. I hope they try again and work out the kinks. It was a big production to get right on first attempt, and I don't think anyone knew what to expect.

One suggestion for next year: Have Pacific Park change their Muzak in the park to something more appropriate for the event. We almost fell asleep in line listening to the smooth jazz.

total waste of time.

Oh, and while the idea of a ferris wheel orchestra is awesome, only the drums could be heard. Did they bother to test this out for sound?

This festival was an abortion. The whole city of Santa Monica should be fired and banished to skid row.

I'm from Chicago. We have an event called Taste of Chicago every year, where a million people descend upon the city to eat good food in the TORTUROUS humidity. It's the worst experience ever. Until last night.

Now Glow Fest is the Worst Experience Ever.

The 1st annual GLOW Festival, was really cool.

Yes, granted - it REALLY sucked, that they cut out the DJ's early... a main music stage is a must, and several, smaller dj/stage areas would have been great to have, too.

The traffic was horrendous, but what do you expect when you bring Half of Los Angeles into the tiny area of the Santa Monica Pier? There WERE cops directing traffic, and i thought they did a GREAT job. the hordes of people were kept moving, i NEVER saw any major problems.

Bigger parking garages and/or a larger parking area, with a shuttle would be best - also, LA needs to complete a major METRO system, to expand it to not only Santa Monica, but other west-side locations, along with other major areas in LA, it doesn't reach, too. Oh, and like others mentioned... not only METRO, but expand Bike routes, offer shuttles, and definately have more food concessions, or at least help the current food restaurants there (which were almost plenty enough - some taco stands and hot dog carts would've been great - especially if glowing!), with extra staff to support the masses.

I didn't take any drugs, however i did notice that cops and officials were VERY EASY in this respect - and i thought that WAS REALLY, REALLY AWESOME... A GREAT MOVE. it allowed a mass amount of people to flock to the beach, enjoy each other and the beach and pier at night, and not have to worry if they decided to partake in some recreational activities, that weren't provided. And for this GLOW event, some smoke, a drink or maybe a little mind-altering substance fits perfect. MAJOR PROPS to the city for working REALLY HARD to protect our safety in traffic and in the population numbers, and NOT scolding people for choosing to enjoy themselves outside of sobriety. I was at a glowing bouncy-balloon tent out on the beach, when a girl had experienced some drug-related issues... cops came on ATV's, and were there to help - they didn't arrest her, clearly knowing she was on something. she was left with her friends, after deciding she was in healthy enough condition, and was ok. THANKS EXTRA to the city officials for their very relaxed police state, yet ready-to-help service nature. Again, EXTRA THANKS to the city for helping direct traffic, and every official i talked to throughout the event, was pretty nice, and trying to help.

Even though people were irritable because of the un-expected huge mass of people, the Music getting cut off, long lines for food and water and bathrooms... overall, i thought it was GREAT turnout, and a good success. wish i stayed longer, was only there from 11:30 ish to about 3:30 am. I walked all over the pier several times, up and down each side of the beach. Lots of cool people, just doing their thing... great way to meet new friends, and experience cool, open-minded art and surroundings.

Wish there was more cool glowing art, and lasers. The water projection show was REALLY AWESOME! wished it was on all night... seemed like they did a great job in keeping the water under control, there.

The rides being on all night would've been great. heard they stopped early, for whatever reason. Wish there was there more music out and about, maybe smaller DJ setups or little live bands and artists on small stage setups, throughout the beach and the pier.

Basically in a NUTSHELL: More music, more art. Better parking/traffic flow, and more food stands. Metro, ALL NIGHT, to the Pier, PLEASE. ANd the same amount of people, if not even more... it was awesome to have so many people there, trying to enjoy everything together. I thought the event was great, and although faltered for it's first try, could be much better planned and executed next time.

Again, thanks to the City, all officials, and to everyone that came out and had a good time. I did, thank you :)

So the "art" aspect wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be, but the REAL disappointment was when they decided to cut the music. I don't know the details of what inspired that decision, but it definitely killed it for me (and hundreds of others).

it was diy - weirdness for santa monica, and let's face it, that's not very weird.

I didn't think this was as bad of a disaster that everyone was making it out to be, considering it was the first like it in SM. The two best light shows were probably the fountain projection and the ferris wheel (yeah, the one that's permanently installed onto the pier, it so much flashier than the old one!) But I hope the organizers use the feedback from this year to make the next year better.

It was indeed a sight to see a mass of people out in Santa Monica past 11pm.

Driving to the Venice area, biking in, and free bike valet! wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either.

Granted, the "art" element of it was pretty lame, but who's to say what passes as art anyway?
I had a great time just people watching and hanging around for a few hours. It was fun to see so many thousands of people swarming the pier/beach. From what I gathered, more people were there as an excuse to pull an all-nighter at the beach with their friends, than to see some high class art...I had a good time.