Dreaming of a bright Christmas? Here's what's new at Zoolights this year
Dinosaurs at the Calgary Zoo will be merry and bright this Christmas.
Officials announced on Tuesday that the prehistoric park will be a part of its annual Christmas lights display for the first time ever in 2021/22.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Zoolights. To celebrate, the zoo is updating some of the annual favourites and adding new attractions.
During Dinos in the Dark, the zoo says visitors will be transported on a mission in which they need to get of the prehistoric park before a volcano erupts.
The Calgary Zoo hosts it's annual Zoolights display. (Photo by Anna Ferensowicz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Also new this year is The Nutcracker Experience in the ENMAX Conservatory, which the zoo says is a "sparkly salute" to the classic Nutcracker story. There will be a wintery sleigh families can take photos on, giant nutcrackers and a ballerina made entirely of flowers.
This year, the zoo is also hosting a Zoolights Market where you can buy items from local vendors that are either sustainable, recycled or celebrate nature.
There will also be a Chocolate Bar, where visitors can buy gourmet hot chocolate.
The zoo also says one of the most-loved features of Zoolights, the Tunnel of Light, will be updated to be an "immersive and interactive experience."
Other annual attractions at Zoolights returning this year include a skating rink, fire pits, visits with Santa and axe throwing.
The Calgary Zoo hosts Zoolights ever year. (Getty Images)
"We can’t wait to see everyone enjoy the magic of the holiday season, while also supporting wildlife conservation," Calgary Zoo spokesperson Alison Archambault said.
The festive and family-friendly event runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for six weeks starting on Nov. 19.
This year, Zoolights will rent out (for free) a special sensory bag for sensory-sensitive visitors.
They also have a sensory experience map available online to help those with sensory sensitivities plan their best route in advance.
Visitors to the zoo who are 12+ are required to show their government-issued ID, along with proof of double vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours or proof of medical exception.
In addition, masks are required inside all zoo buildings.
For more information on Zoolights and to buy tickets you can visit the Calgary Zoo's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.