Denver Zoo Lights Adds Yeti, Underwater Adventure To Winter Attraction
DENVER (CBS4) - Strewn throughout 40 acres at the Denver Zoo this December are at least two million holiday lights.
Give or take. As the zoo says: "That is a really good estimate."
"We stopped counting at a million," jokes Megan Fine, the zoo's events and logistics manager.
PHOTO GALLERY: Denver Zoo Lights Sculptures
Created from those two million lights are 150 sculptures of the zoo's animals: giraffes, alligators, spiders, otters and elephants -- and even a couple mythological creatures: yetis and dragons.
"You will find the yeti hiding in the bushes throughout your walk," Fine says, though she won't reveal his location. Hint: Listen for his growling and watch for his footprints.
The yeti is among the zoo's latest additions to its annual winter draw. Fine says it's not enough any longer for the zoo to just add more sculptures. Visitors want enhancements, and they'll find one of those creative flourishes in the Giraffe Meadows area. Digital projectors cast an undersea glow among sharks, whales, octopi and fish to make them appear like they're shimmering under water.
Fine says the zoo will add similar features in coming designs.
"There are some things that we're going to be building on in the next couple years that will probably include some projector lighting that will bring some ooh and ahh," she says.
A team of two contractors starts erecting the sculptures on Labor Day weekend, and it takes them three months to bring them down. Zoo Lights now runs entirely on LED lighting that the zoo phased in over two years.
Now in its 24th year, the zoo's display is the largest lighting event in the Denver region, according to Fine. It's a huge draw: Fine estimates more than 125,000 guests visited during the month-long event in 2013. Some nights draw more than 10,000 visitors, rivaling the zoo's busiest summer days.
Zoo Lights runs Dec. 5 through Jan. 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Get more information at denverzoo.org/events/zoo-lights-2014.