Tickets go on sale for 2026 ZooLights Festival at Lincoln Park Zoo
It may feel like summer ended and the kids went back to school roughly yesterday, but the Lincoln Park Zoo is already selling tickets for the ZooLights holiday festival.
The zoo called "all hot chocolate drinkers and ugly holiday sweater wearers," as tickets for the annual event — presented by Inevsco and ComEd — went on sale on Tuesday.
ZooLights features more than 3 million lights on zoo grounds, with "nostalgic LED light displays, ethereal elements, and memory-making holiday experiences throughout the zoo," the zoo said. A Ferris wheel will be set up, as will a light tunnel on the Main Mall.
The ZooLights festival will also feature photo ops, professional ice carvers, and Victorian carolers on some nights. The Pepper Family Wildlife Center will turn into the North Pole, and kids can visit with Santa there.
ZooLights dates back to 1995. The first edition of the festival featured 100,000 lights mounted on 10,500 pounds of steel — and twisted into the shapes of all different animals, published reports noted.
ZooLights runs from Nov. 20 through Jan. 3.
For those buying ahead, fixed-date tickets are $7 to $12 depending on the date, while for those buying day-of, fixed-date tickets are $20.
Admission to ZooLights is free on Mondays, except for Dec. 21 and 28.
