LA Zoo Lights

The L.A. Zoo is staying open after dark every night through January during this light-up holiday tradition, which returns for 2021 after having to take last year off.

Many of the lighting displays are inspired by the zoo’s wild residents: think elephant statues with whimsical projections, mosaic-like multicolor giraffes and twinkling butterflies. When we last visited in 2019, we found that Zoo Lights had lost a bit of the handmade, kitsch quality that made it quirky in its earlier years, but we thought it’d become a more polished experience in the process (thanks to the addition of a twinkly tunnel of lights, Chinese lanterns and a shimmering wall of lights).

Tip: Buy your timed tickets (available in three sessions nightly) in advance to avoid the worst of the entry lines. Also, tickets are a typically a few dollars cheaper during the first week of Zoo Lights. And wear comfortable shoes; the lights only cover about a third of the zoo grounds, but you’ll be walking slightly uphill for most of the way.

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