Those popular lanterns above Weho’s main thoroughfare for last summer’s LA Pride festivities are back again, and this time they’re sticking around.

According to a press release from the City of West Hollywood:

After positive community feedback of a temporary street lantern installation on Santa Monica Boulevard for 2019 LA Pride in West Hollywood festivities, the City of West Hollywood has installed permanent year-round decorative LED lanterns above Santa Monica Boulevard between N. Robertson Boulevard and Hancock Avenue. The colorful globe lanterns provide a bright atmosphere and welcoming feel to the City’s LGBT ‘Rainbow District’ during nighttime.

“The new festive lights on Santa Monica Boulevard are bright, happy, and colorful, and arrived just in time for a new year and a new decade,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico. “Every night they will light up West Hollywood’s ‘Rainbow District’ to be sure. But, more importantly, they illuminate — with tremendous pride — our city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, heritage, and history.”

The lanterns are programmable either as individual lanterns or entire strands of lights, which will allow the City of West Hollywood to recognize national events or celebrations that traditionally use signature colors. All lanterns have UV protection to prolong the life and ensure clarity of the shield around the light fixtures. In addition, the lanterns feature easily replaceable fixtures and are custom-made in the United States of commercial-grade construction to withstand the elements for successful permanent exterior installation. The lanterns are engineered to meet the weight and wind-load requirements of existing light poles to which they are attached and are compliant with fire safety regulations.

Illumination for the globes will be set to rotate in rainbow colors in an embrace of the neighborhood’s LGBT community and bars, restaurants, and businesses. Since incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation in advocating for the rights of LGBT people — no other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBT people. According to a 2019 Community Study survey, 43 percent of West Hollywood residents identified as part of the LGBT community. The ‘Rainbow District’ in West Hollywood in and around Santa Monica Boulevard has, for decades, been a thriving hub of LGBT businesses and nightlife and new lighting will enhance the neighborhood at nighttime.