Wildlights returns to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for its 38th year on Friday, November 20, transforming the Powell zoo into a winter display of millions of LED lights through January 3, 2027, according to the zoo’s announcement, published by the Scioto Post. This year’s edition adds two new attractions — Starlight Safari and Bricktopia — alongside the returning favorites Central Ohio families have made a holiday tradition.
The headline addition is Starlight Safari in Adventure Cove, where seven larger-than-life, three-dimensional illuminated animal displays will shine across the region of the zoo, the zoo announced. Bricktopia brings a second new experience to this year’s lineup, and the season also offers a preview of the zoo’s upcoming Centennial celebration in 2027, according to the announcement published by the Scioto Post.
The schedule follows the rhythm regulars know. The zoo opens at noon during Wildlights season, with festivities beginning nightly at 5 p.m. and running until 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The zoo is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and Wildlights is included with regular Columbus Zoo admission or a zoo membership, the zoo said.
Two special nights precede the public opening. A Sensory-Friendly Light Stroll is set for Tuesday, November 17, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., offering a calmer way to experience the displays, and Wildlights Member Night, presented by Bob Evans Farms, follows on Thursday, November 19, from 5 to 9 p.m., according to the zoo’s announcement.
Wildlights is efficiently powered by Ohio Power Company, and the zoo says the celebration reflects its commitment to conservation through energy-efficient LED lighting and technology designed to reduce energy consumption. That LED approach is part of how a display built on millions of lights keeps its footprint down season after season.
The zoo is already one of Ohio’s biggest animal stories this fall — readers have been following the Cincinnati Zoo’s welcome for Raja, a 10,000-pound elephant, at Elephant Trek — and the holiday season in Columbus is taking shape at the ballpark as well, where the Columbus holiday season opens with new Clippers lights and returning favorites.
Thirty-eight years in, Wildlights holds a particular place in the region’s calendar: it is the rare holiday event that spans generations, drawing grandparents who came as children and the grandchildren they now bring. The zoo directs guests planning a visit to its Wildlights page for traffic tips, parking guidance and recommendations, and notes the event is included with admission — no separate Wildlights ticket is required.
The shape of a Wildlights night rewards arriving early. Because the zoo opens at noon during the season, families can spend the afternoon with the animals and stay as the displays take over at 5 p.m. — two visits in one ticket. The later closing on Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m., makes those the longest nights of the season, while the three dark nights — Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day — are worth circling before anyone loads the car.
This year’s preview of the 2027 Centennial celebration gives the season a forward look as well as a festive one: the zoo is using its biggest annual draw to start telling the story of its 100th year. Starlight Safari fits that arc — seven illuminated, three-dimensional animals, one grand display after another in Adventure Cove — while Bricktopia adds a builder’s twist aimed squarely at kids who experience the holidays one brick creation at a time.
The sensory-friendly stroll on November 17 deserves its own note for families planning around it. A dedicated, calmer evening before the public opening lets guests who find the full event overwhelming experience the lights at their own pace — and it has become one of the most appreciated dates on the zoo’s holiday calendar.
What happens next is the countdown. The sensory-friendly stroll comes first on November 17, members get their night on November 19, and then the gates open to everyone on Friday, November 20 — the first of 40-plus nights of lights running through January 3, 2027.