Wildlights returns to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on November 20 for its thirty-eighth season, and the two genuinely new things in it are a walk-through of illuminated animal sculptures in Adventure Cove and a LEGO hall in Asia Quest built around a life-sized polar bear cub. The season runs through January 3, 2027, and it is included with regular Zoo admission or membership.
The schedule is worth writing down before you go. During Wildlights season the Zoo opens at noon rather than in the morning. The lights themselves begin at 5 p.m. nightly and run until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Zoo is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
What is new this year?
Starlight Safari puts seven three-dimensional illuminated animal displays through Adventure Cove, each standing in for one of the Zoo’s regions: a polar bear, an Asian elephant and calf, a Florida manatee, a Masai giraffe, a red kangaroo, a California sea lion, and a western lowland gorilla that arrives in December. The soundtrack is celestial rather than carols, which is a small decision that will matter to anyone who has walked a mile of holiday lights with the same eight songs cycling.
Bricktopia is the other addition, built with OhioLUG, a recognized LEGO fan community, and housed indoors in the Interpretive Center. It holds nine mosaics of the Zoo’s Character Ambassadors, which is Columbus’s name for the animals that go out to meet guests rather than stay on habitat, plus a brick-built train display, a Holiday Animal Village, and a polar bear cub sculpture made from more than 24,000 bricks at the size of the real thing.
Three rides that used to cost extra are now included with admission or membership: the 12 Days of Wildlights Train Ride through North America Trek, the Yule Tide Dino Island Boat Ride, which runs through December 31, and the Grand Carousel. For a family of four that is the kind of change that quietly decides whether an evening is affordable.
Two nights built for sensory needs
The most useful thing in this year’s announcement is not a light display. The Zoo is running a Sensory-Friendly Light Stroll on November 17 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with smaller crowds, reduced background sound, sensory kits to borrow and a calming room to retreat to. It is free for Columbus Zoo members and requires advance registration.
A Sensory-Friendly Santa Experience follows on December 6, noon to 4 p.m., in the Suzie Edwards Conservation Education Building: softer lighting, reduced sound, limited crowds and scheduled entry times rather than a queue. Reservations are required and there is a $5 fee per group. Zoo admission is not required for that one, which means a family can come for Santa and nothing else.
Holiday lights are, by design, loud and bright and crowded. A zoo that builds two separate evenings for the guests those conditions exclude is doing something most light festivals do not bother to do, and it is worth saying so.
Returning favorites, and one date for 2027
Conservation Lake carries two alternating musical light displays. Pixel Passage, a 200-foot tunnel holding 32,000 pixels of light, returns in Adventure Cove. The Oak Ridge Bears Jingle Jamboree animated bear band is back in Polar Frontier, where Santa also sets up, and Jingle Jam in the Shores region adds a new LED light wall this year. Notes of Hope invites guests to write holiday greetings for patients receiving care at OhioHealth facilities.
From January 1 to 3, 2027, Conservation Lake switches to a Centennial-themed display marking the start of the Columbus Zoo’s hundredth anniversary year. Wildlights closes this season by opening the next story.
Two experiences carry extra fees and need advance reservations: a Wildlights VIP Tour by private golf cart with hot chocolate, and a Reindeer Experience for guests aged five and older that includes a Fast Pass to meet Santa. Brew Lights on November 28, from 7 to 11 p.m. at Water’s Edge Events Park, is a separately ticketed evening for guests 21 and older with craft beer tastings and live music, and the ticket includes Zoo and Wildlights admission. Members get their own night on November 19.
Full pricing, registration and reservation details are on the Columbus Zoo’s announcement. If you are weighing holiday light events this season, we also covered Elmwood Park Zoo’s Wild Lights, which opens the same night in Pennsylvania.
Quick answers
- When is Wildlights 2026 at the Columbus Zoo?
November 20, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The Zoo opens at noon during Wildlights season, the lights start at 5 p.m. nightly and run to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Zoo is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- Does Wildlights cost extra?
No. Wildlights is included with regular Columbus Zoo admission or membership. The 12 Days of Wildlights Train Ride, the Yule Tide Dino Island Boat Ride and the Grand Carousel are also included this year. The VIP Tour, the Reindeer Experience and Brew Lights carry additional fees.
- What is new at Wildlights this year?
Two walk-through experiences. Starlight Safari puts seven three-dimensional illuminated animal displays through Adventure Cove. Bricktopia, built with the LEGO fan community OhioLUG, fills the Interpretive Center with brick mosaics, a train display and a life-sized polar bear cub made from more than 24,000 bricks.
- Is there a sensory-friendly night at Wildlights?
There are two. A Sensory-Friendly Light Stroll runs November 17 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. with reduced sound, smaller crowds, sensory kits and a calming room, free to members with advance registration. A Sensory-Friendly Santa Experience runs December 6 from noon to 4 p.m. with scheduled entry times and a $5 fee per group, and Zoo admission is not required for it.
- What is happening at the Columbus Zoo in 2027?
The Zoo's hundredth anniversary year begins. From January 1 to 3, 2027, Conservation Lake carries a Centennial-themed light display marking the start of it.
