Tickets are on sale for IllumiNights at the Zoo, the lantern festival Zoo Atlanta runs through the holiday season. It opens on Saturday, November 21, 2026, and runs on select nights through Sunday, January 17, 2027.
The festival is a mile-long walk after dark through hundreds of artisan-crafted lanterns, built around the shapes and colors of the natural world. Zoo Atlanta introduces new lanterns each year, so the route is not the same one returning visitors walked last season. Georgia Power presents the event, with Huntington Bank as Beacon Sponsor.
Will you see any animals?
Mostly not, and the zoo says so plainly rather than leaving people to find out at the gate. “The lanterns are the wildlife at IllumiNights,” the announcement reads, because most of the zoo’s animals have gone inside for the night by the time the festival opens. Zoo Atlanta points anyone who wants to see the living collection toward a daytime visit instead.
That is a more useful thing to know than it might sound. A family buying tickets for a winter evening is buying a light show in a zoo, not a zoo visit after hours, and the two are priced and ticketed separately. IllumiNights is not included in regular daytime general admission.
What is there besides the lanterns?
Cocoa and marshmallow roasts, holiday cocktails for guests 21 and over, photo-ops along the route, and rides on the Endangered Species Carousel. Festival-themed snacks and meals are available at select concession stands.
Preview Nights fall on November 21 and 22, carrying the season’s deepest discount for Zoo Atlanta members and reduced pricing for non-members. A standard member discount holds for the rest of the run.
When to go, and what to know before booking
IllumiNights runs 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on select nights, with last entry at 8 p.m. Capacity is limited and the zoo strongly recommends buying in advance rather than turning up.
It lands in a busy stretch for Zoo Atlanta. The zoo says the Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove, the updated habitat for Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, opens on November 6, a little over two weeks before the lanterns go up. The two pandas arrived in Atlanta on September 27 under a cooperative research agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
Dates, times and pricing structure come from Zoo Atlanta’s October 21 announcement.
Quick answers
- When does IllumiNights at the Zoo open?
Saturday, November 21, 2026. It runs on select nights through Sunday, January 17, 2027.
- What time does IllumiNights run?
From 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on select nights, with last entry at 8 p.m.
- Will I see animals at IllumiNights?
Mostly not. Zoo Atlanta says most of its animals go inside before dark and that the lanterns are the wildlife at the event. To see the living collection, visit during the day.
- Is IllumiNights included in regular zoo admission?
No. It is a separate ticketed event and is not included in daytime general admission.
- When are the Preview Nights?
November 21 and 22, carrying the season’s deepest discount for Zoo Atlanta members and reduced pricing for non-members.
- Should I buy IllumiNights tickets in advance?
Capacity is limited and Zoo Atlanta strongly recommends buying in advance rather than arriving without a ticket.
