The Montgomery Zoo has started its annual Christmas Lights Festival throughout December. Guests are invited to visit the park after hours to see thousands of dazzling lights and festive decorations.
During the kickoff of the event on December 1, the zoo welcomed Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed to switch on the lights. Since then, guest have enjoyed train rides around the park, hot coco and lots of beautiful decorations.
“It's just a lot of fun to have people here at the zoo,” said Bailey Glasgow, the marketing and public relations manager at the Montgomery Zoo. “I think it's a lot of fun for people to come to the zoo after hours, and it's not something that you get to do on a regular basis.”
This year, the zoo has added themes for the Friday nights during the festival. Visitors can dress up according to the themes and partake in related activities. So far, the zoo has had a tacky holiday sweaters night, sports night, food night and a Star Wars night. On December 24, the Montgomery Zoo is set to celebrate Christmas Eve with a pajama night.
Guests also have an opportunity to gift one of the zoo’s animal residents a Christmas present through the Zoo Animal Angel Tree in the gift shop. Glasgow explained these donations go toward helping conservation efforts at the Montgomery Zoo and around the world.
“We have a tree up at the gift shop, and you can come and pick one of the animals off decide if you want to donate for that specific animal here at the zoo,” she said. “All that money that we come up with goes toward conservation efforts here at the zoo and also around the world. So, they have a couple of different organizations that they use,” Glasgow continued.
For guest looking for live entertainment, the Christmas Lights Festival features live performances from school and church choirs, as well as other musicians.
Glasgow said she believes the Christmas Lights Festival is special because it is a unique opportunity to visit the zoo after hours during a less popular season.
“Spring and fall are definitely busy, but I think it's there's something fun about coming here in the middle of winter [at] night. It's just magical,” she said.
The Christmas Lights Festival at the Montgomery Zoo runs every night until December 25th from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the gates.
For more information on this event, or to see the list of themes for upcoming nights, visit the Montgomery Zoo website.
