The holidays have arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo with LumiNature, an annual winter spectacular. The zoo has transformed into a magical lights exhibition with over a million lights. As you walk though the zoo, you will be greeted by different animal characters and get a chance to marvel over unique animal displays.
The Director of Mission Integration at the Philadelphia Zoo, Dani Hogan, tells us about their most popular display. “One thing we’ve had since the very beginning is our flamingo tree. It is an iconic structure, we’ve had tons of people come to visit it from all over the world we’ve even had a lot of people get engaged in front of it.”
After months of setup and creative planning, the zoo first debuted its winter light display in 2019. Hogan explains how the zoo wanted to create an exhibition unlike any other, “When we were thinking about what would make LumiNature amazing, we wanted to do something that you cannot see at any other light experience in Philadelphia or really around the world.”
Although you won’t see any zoo animals since LumiNature takes place at night when the animals are fast asleep, the projections and other animal light displays are sure to spark your interest.
Dani Hogan describes the creative thinking behind the light exhibition, “So what’s unique about the Philadelphia Zoo is of courses our animals, our mission of conservation, of connecting people with wildlife. So the way that we figure out how to do that is by thinking what we thought animals might dream about at night.”
Visitors can also take a break from walking to roast marshmallows over the open fire pits or hop on the carousel decorated with animals from around the park. Philadelphia community groups, schools, and families have also contributed to the park’s decoration with Christmas trees designed with an animal that is special to them. Visitors can vote for their favorite three trees as they pass “Our Neck of the Woods” before exiting the zoo.
LumiNature will be open on select nights from 5 pm to 8 pm until January 6th, so make sure to reserve your tickets online ahead of time.
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