Holiday Magic Returns To Brookfield Zoo For 37th Year

BROOKFIELD, IL – Chicagoland’s largest and longest-running lights festival returns to Brookfield Zoo this December with more than one million LED lights that will get zoogoers of all ages in the holiday spirit. The zoo said its 37th annual Holiday Magic, presented by ComEd and Meijer, takes place on Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, and 22-23, as well as Wednesday through Monday, Dec. 26-31. The zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day of the event.

Brookfield Zoo will be glowing with various light displays throughout the park including a 41-foot-tall Talking Tree and larger-than-life animal figures of a giraffe, bison and bear. According to the zoo, guests can also walk through a 20-foot-tall lit orb – making for memorable photo opportunities, and possibly for some, a romantic engagement proposal.

Searchlights will illuminate the sky around Roosevelt Fountain and the West Mall. On the East Mall, you can find gigantic reindeer created from telephone poles surrounded by lit spheres. On the opposite mall, guests can view starburst light displays hexagon-shaped trees, and mirror balls that “dance” to music, the zoo said. Finally, nearly 600 trees decorated with ornaments by Chicagoland communities and corporations line the walkways along the zoo’s malls and around the fountain adding to the ambience.

During different nights of Holiday Magic, there will also be professional ice carving demonstrations, magic shows, costumed characters, a model train display and an animated video accompanied to holiday tunes that will illuminate the front of The Swamp. The zoo said there will also be Zoo Chats each night of Holiday Magic, during which guests can learn fun facts and information about the animals at Brookfield Zoo.

Guests can also visit the new Chicago Wolves Skating Rink or visit Santa and Mrs. Claus in the North Pole workshop located in the Seven Seas Underwater Viewing Gallery where they can share their wish lists and pose for pictures.

Holiday Magic festivities end on Saturday, Dec. 31, but not before everyone is invited to ring in 2019 at the Zoo Year’s Eve celebration. The zoo said the Holly Jolly Theater will have music, fun games, party favors, prizes and more, beginning at 6 p.m. Families with younger children can head to Hamill Family Play Zoo, where kids can make noisemakers. Both locations will feature an early countdown to the New Year at 8 p.m.

Photos provided by Chicago Zoological Society.