Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights Named Best Zoo For Holiday Lights in New Poll

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has once again been named the best zoo to see holiday lights, according to a new poll.

This is the seventh year in a row that voters in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Poll voted the Cincinnati Zoo’s PNC Festival of Lights No. 1 in the category “Best Zoo Lights.” The annual Cincinnati tradition features over 5 million LED lights, plus holiday-themed fun like rides on the “Polar Express” train, the Wild Lights show on Swan Lake, the chance to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, a gingerbread village, s’mores and hot chocolate and more.

“We are thrilled that so many people voted for us and that visitors come back year after year,” Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard said in a press release. “This is the 42nd year that we’ve hosted one of Cincinnati’s favorite holiday traditions, and I think it gets better every year. With the expanded footprint of the Zoo, that now includes Elephant Trek, we hung a record number of lights since August. Five million LED lights!”

Second place in the poll went to Electric Safari at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, and Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo was third. See the full results of the poll here.

For this year’s Festival of Lights, visitors have even more space to explore, plus the zoo added even more lifelike animal lanterns to the footprint. Santa is available for visits and photos in Santa’s Village starting at 4 p.m. every day, and visitors can now make reservations for Santa visits in advance. Sensory-friendly Santa visits and social narratives are also available.

You can download the zoo’s mobile app to help you plan your visit and navigate the park. You can also turn on notifications to be alerted when certain activities are about to start. Also, keep in mind that most of the animals go inside at 5 p.m. before the lights come on, so you’ll need to get to the zoo earlier to see them. Indoor habitats like World of the Insect, Night Hunters, Manatee Springs, Reptile House, Gorilla World, Dragons, Jungle Trails West and Discovery Forest will be open during the Festival of Lights, however.

You can also buy tickets for the Festival of Lights online ahead of time to save money.

Cincinnati Zoo, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. For more information on the Festival of Lights and other zoo happenings, visit cincinnatizoo.org.