Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier celebrates its 30th anniversary Tuesday, marking three decades since amusement returned to one of Southern California's most recognizable oceanfront landmarks.
The park opened May 26, 1996, as the first amusement park on the pier since the 1930s, helping reestablish the boardwalk as a hub for seaside entertainment and community gathering. Today it draws visitors as part of a pier that welcomes more than 12 million people annually from around the world.
To mark the milestone, the park staged a birthday-themed lighting display on its world-famous Pacific Wheel, featuring "Happy Birthday" and 30th anniversary messaging along with celebratory imagery including a birthday cake. The signature light show illuminated the night sky 40 feet above the Pacific Ocean.
"Thirty years ago today, Pacific Park brought amusement back to the Santa Monica Pier," said Jeff Klocke, CEO of Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.
Klocke pointed to several moments that have shaped the park's identity over three decades. The 1996 opening marked the beginning of a new era for the pier itself. The introduction of the world's first solar-powered Ferris wheel in 1998 established the park's identity as both innovative and uniquely tied to the California coast. A new Pacific Wheel and dramatic LED lighting package installed in 2008 elevated the ride into an internationally recognized visual icon for Los Angeles. In 2012, the Ferris wheel earned a Guinness World Record, further cementing its place in popular culture.
Equally meaningful, Klocke said, have been the park's longstanding community partnerships with organizations including Santa Monica PAL, Special Olympics Southern California and Make-A-Wish, along with countless local celebrations and family traditions that connect the park to the pier.
The numbers tell their own story. Since opening, Pacific Park has provided nearly 100 million rides on its 12 classic boardwalk attractions and welcomed more than 14 million riders on its solar-powered Ferris wheel. Along the way, it has served more than 4.5 million scoops of ice cream, brewed more than 4.1 million cups of coffee and dusted more than 3.6 million funnel cakes. Staff have also served 1,811,620 churros and spun more than 530,725 pieces of cotton candy.
Today the park offers 12 rides, 14 midway games, oceanfront dining at Snackville and beachside retail, all anchored by the Pacific Wheel, which remains the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel. Pacific Park bills itself as Los Angeles' only admission-free amusement park.
The anniversary celebration began several days before the official date with a community-focused Santa Monica Pier Locals' Night on May 21. Klocke said starting with locals was intentional.
"Pacific Park exists because the Santa Monica Pier was preserved and supported by the community, so it felt important to begin the anniversary by saying thank you to the people who live here, work here and have supported the pier over the years," he said. "The Santa Monica Pier has always been more than a tourist destination — it's a gathering place and shared public space that generations of local families have helped shape."
The celebration continued through the weekend with the release of "Sp30tlights: 30 Years of Pacific Park," a three-part series highlighting defining milestones from the park's history.
Klocke said the park intends to keep evolving while preserving what has made it a fixture on the Southern California coast.
"Pacific Park is a reflection of the community that saved this pier and continues to shape its future," he said. "As we celebrate this milestone, we're proud of the memories created here and excited to continue evolving the experience for the next generation of guests."
Looking toward the park's 40th and 50th anniversaries, Klocke said the goal is to continue creating new experiences while preserving the nostalgia, accessibility and sense of community that have defined the destination.
"We want Pacific Park to remain a place where locals and visitors alike can come together to enjoy the oceanfront, celebrate milestones and experience a uniquely Southern California tradition for decades to come," he said.
Pacific Park is open daily on the Santa Monica Pier.