It’s Still July, And Phoenix Zoo Holiday Lights Already Going Up

PHOENIX, AZ — Talk about “Christmas creep”: Crews are already installing the millions of lights in the Phoenix Zoo’s annual holiday lights show. But if you want to celebrate Labor Day and Halloween before you get into the holiday mood, don’t despair. The millions of twinkling lights and holiday music won’t be turned on until Nov. 27 this year.

It’s a monumental, months-long job to get everything in place for ZooLights, a cherished Valley tradition for the past three decades. The zoo said on its Facebook page that it takes a five-person crew more than three months to install the lights, which are 100 percent LED to demonstrate the zoo’s commitment to environmentally friendly programming.

The ZooLights display will run through Jan. 12, 2020.

There’s something new to look forward to in this year’s ZooLights display, ZooLights supervisor Justin Davis told news station KSAZ.

“Life-size animal lanterns that are going to be along our Africa trail, it's going to be a whole new experience for you to come see, they're going to be fun," Davis told the news outlet.