Luminature
Philadelphia Zoo
3400 W Girard Ave.
Philadelphia
Dec. 24, 2025
When Winter comes around, every zoo needs to find a way to lure their patrons out of their homes and back into their open air conservation parks. The path many zoos take is to splatter their environments with string light displays, giving their visitors a fresh way to experience their zoological campuses. The Philadelphia Zoo first introduced their light spectacle, “Luminature,” in 2019. Since then the event has grown year after year.
This year, the zoo introduced a few new features to the event including the now permanent “Pherris Wheel,” a 110-foot ferris wheel that sits where the zoo balloon used to reside and overlooks the whole park, offering beautiful views of the Philly skyline. Another new feature, and my personal favorite, is the “Go into the Wild” quest scattered throughout the Luminature displays. Hidden throughout the park, guests are encouraged to talk with workers donning furry hats for the chance to collect six artfully crafted cards by completing tasks like riddles or games. I giddily took on the challenge.
While most of the animal exhibits, except the Ankole cattle who happily grazed in their yard and cozied up in their barn, were closed off for the cold night, we had the lights of the exhibits to guide us through the zoo. Along the way were greeted by various performers in their neon glow costumes reminiscent of what you’d expect at Burning Man, opportunities for snacks, drinks, fire pits to cook s’mores over, and, of course, our six side quests.
Starting at the newly reopened Treehouse next to the carousel, we met “The Raven,” who challenged us with riddles before handing us our card. Next we were transported by “The Snake” into “Ophis’ Hibernaculum,” where we had to find five of the seven snakes hidden in the outcove. Much to my delight, all of the snakes had back stories to go along with them. Like Tony; pictured hanging out on his tree in all his fluorescent glory, he reportedly runs a deli which sells cheese snakes… get it? Or Sarah, a boa constrictor who runs a lemonade stand, showing off her constricting skills by squeezing every last drop of juice out of lemons. Or the more serious snakes, like Quetzalcoatl, a real South American legend, who brought chocolate down from the mountains for humans to experience.
Next in the quest, we happened upon “The Leopard” and “The Tortoise” who each had a game for us to compete in: an egg on spoon race from the tortoise and a pose off with the leopard. Next up we found “The Puca” (a shapeshifting spirit from Celtic folklore) playing “Stairway to Heaven” on his fiddle in the fairy garden, a song title we had to name ourselves before collecting our card. But the garden itself was even more magical than this mythical creature; it was illuminated with stunning wonder, from blinking lights emulating fairies flying in the grasses to a sparkling light tunnel that took us to a the snoring troll that you could wake up if you had a “zoo key” to insert into the keyhole in his yard. Our journey came to an end in front of the hippo pool, where we met a humanoid “Orangutan” who taught us a jig and handed us our sixth and final card.
The Luminature showed the zoo in a new light; the quests, in my opinion, were a successful way to get all generations, from kids to 20-somethings to my husband and myself, not only interacting with diverse species, but engaging with the fun of lore and luster. My partner and I giggled at the performance artists personifying these creatures. The series made me feel more acutely human — and lit my inner child up within me. I’ll be holding on to the collectible cards to commemorate the experience.
Philadelphia Zoo Luminature is open to the public on select dates from 5 to 9 p.n. until Jan. 3rd. Tickets are required.
