Nashville Zoo Keeps the Tigers Out Until 8:30

Boo at the Zoo runs at Nashville Zoo from Thursday, October 16 through Saturday, November 1, from 5 to 9 p.m. every night. The part that separates it from the rest of Nashville’s October calendar is in the back half of those hours: several of the zoo’s animals stay out past sunset, and most people have never seen them at that time of day.

Sumatran tigers and the Andean bear are out until 8:30 p.m. The flamingos and the whole Unseen New World building stay open until 9. That is the entire reason to pick this over a corn maze.

Why after dark is a different animal

A tiger seen at two in the afternoon in August is usually a tiger asleep in shade. Cats are built for the cool ends of the day, and a 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. window in late October catches a Sumatran tiger during the hours it would actually choose to be awake and moving. The same logic runs through the rest of the after-hours list. Unseen New World, the zoo’s building for the small, nocturnal and cryptic, is the one place in the collection where closing at 9 p.m. instead of 4 is not a concession to visitors but a better match to what lives inside it.

Nightly animal shows run at the Ajax Turner Amphitheater at 5:45, 6:45 and 7:45 p.m., which is worth noting because they are the same three times as the trick-or-treating rush and you cannot do both at once.

What is new this year

Two additions. The first is the Beastly Feast Food Fest, a run of seasonal food and drink stalls set up through the event rather than concentrated at one plaza. The second is a new 4D short film, which plays in the zoo’s 4D theater for an additional fee on top of event admission.

Returning features fill the rest of it: ten trick-or-treat stations for children aged 2 to 12, with a souvenir bag included; the Monster Mash Dance Floor; Storytime with the Old Oakley Tree; Gourdon the Talking Pumpkin; costumed characters in Unseen New World Plaza; Carn-Evil Carnival Games and the Fall Fun Zone; a pumpkin patch where you can buy and paint one; free spins on the Scary-Go-Round Carousel; and the 45-foot Ferris wheel, which is a separate purchase.

The last night is a Day of the Dead night

Boo at the Zoo closes on Sunday, November 1 with a Día de los Muertos celebration folded into the event: themed entertainment, activities, food, and what the zoo describes as meaningful ways to honor loved ones through culture and remembrance. It is the one night of the run with a different character, and it is the one most likely to be worth driving for if you have been to Boo before.

Tickets, and the parking problem

Admission is $23 for everyone aged 2 and up on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and $19 Monday through Thursday. Children under 2 are free. Zoo members save $3 per ticket. Flex tickets, good for any non-Saturday night, and Saturday-specific tickets are sold separately at lower prices for members and non-members alike.

Parking is $10 and free for members, and this is the detail that catches people out: parking is limited, so advance purchase is required. Some nights sell out outright and the zoo cannot accommodate walk-ups on those dates. Tickets can be transferred to another night depending on availability, but never onto a night that has already sold out. The event runs rain or shine and there are no refunds. All of it, including the current sold-out dates, is listed on the zoo’s own Boo at the Zoo page.

Nashville Zoo is the kind of collection where the after-dark hours pay off, and it has been quietly good at the species most people cannot see anywhere else, including the clouded leopard cub born there in September. Go late rather than early.