Hit the switch! Phoenix Zoo set to open annual ZooLights on Wednesday

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Zoo will once again illuminate the night sky this holiday season with its 25th annual ZooLights display.

This year, ZooLights will commence Nov. 23, and light up the zoo every night thereafter through Jan. 8, 2017. The light spectacle has become a Phoenix Zoo tradition since it first began a quarter century ago.

The zoo will kick off its annual display with a procession Wednesday led by 60 members of the ASU marching band. The procession will end at Savanna Park, where Bert Castro, president and CEO of the Arizona Center for Nature Conservation and Phoenix Zoo, will address the crowd during a tree lighting ceremony at 5:45 p.m.

“The magic of ZooLights, with its millions of lights and its hundreds of twinkling displays, has provided priceless memories and become a Valley tradition for countless guests over the past two-and-a-half decades,” Castro said.

There are several new 3-D and 4-D light displays this season, including a dragonfly, an alligator and a jellyfish.

Nearly all the lights used in this year’s display are LED in order to save power.

Entrance prices vary from $10.95 to $19.95 depending on the evening, with children under the age of 2 admitted free of charge. Tickets can be purchased on the Phoenix Zoo website or upon arrival at the gate.