An Ofrenda for the Animals, Then a 3K in the Dark

The Louisville Zoo has two events on the calendar in the next week: Día de los Muertos on Sunday and Monday, November 1 and 2, which is free with zoo admission or membership, and the Throo the Boo 3K evening fun run on Saturday, November 7, which is not. Registration for the run closes at the cheaper price on November 6.

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the pair with the zoo on October 30. The Louisville Zoo is the State Zoo of Kentucky and an agency of Louisville Metro Government, which is why the mayor’s office puts its name on the zoo’s event calendar.

What happens at Día de los Muertos?

The zoo builds ofrendas. An ofrenda is the altar at the center of the observance, the place where the people being remembered are given a seat, and the zoo decorates its own with photographs, flowers, marigolds and monarch butterflies. This year it is building altars for zoo animals that have died, plus one open altar where guests can bring and honor their own pets.

That last one is the part worth knowing before you go, because it changes what the visit is. A guest ofrenda is not a display to walk past. It is a thing to put something on.

Día de los Muertos is a traditional observance in Mexico and in many other cultures, and the zoo frames it the way it is meant to be framed: not as mourning, but as a celebration of lives that happened. It runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days and costs nothing beyond admission.

What is Throo the Boo?

A 3K run and walk through the zoo after dark, on the same route the zoo uses for Boo at the Zoo, past the Halloween characters and decorations still standing. Waves start at 6 p.m. on November 7 with the competitive runners and keep going until 7:20 p.m., which is when the walkers, strollers and anyone treating it as a stroll go out.

Registration is $45 through November 6 and $50 on race day. Children four and under are $5, which gets them a bib and a finisher medal. Every entry includes a race shirt, a finisher medal, the post-race party, an entry in the door prize draw and a free daytime ticket to come back. There is a virtual 3K option for anyone who wants the shirt and the medal without the evening.

Costumes are encouraged for all ages and the zoo asks that they stay family-friendly rather than scary. The one rule with a reason behind it: race bibs go on the front, over the costume, and stay visible. The zoo also points out that this is an evening race on lit but not floodlit paths, so a mask or anything that narrows your field of view is a genuine problem rather than a formality.

Is the whole zoo open?

Not quite, and this is the thing a visitor should check before driving over. The zoo closed several bird areas on October 22 after a wild Canada goose found sick on the grounds tested positive for avian influenza, and said at the time it expected the closures to hold for several weeks. The Forest Bird Trail, the African penguin exhibits in the Islands Pavilion, the Steller’s Sea Eagle Aviary in Glacier Run, Lorikeet Landing and some areas around the lake were the spaces affected. None of the birds in the zoo’s care were showing signs of the disease. We covered that closure and the reasoning behind it here.

Winter hours are also in effect. The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily now through March 19, 2027, with guests exiting by 5 p.m., and it closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The full announcement from the zoo is here.