Zoolights

Originally, we had planned to go to the zoo on New Year’s Eve, but I thought that if we had a long weekend to ring in the New Year, why not leave the city and kick in 2007 with style?! So suggestions were made and a blueprint was established for our ideal New Year’s celebration. This meant giving away the spontaneously-bought tickets for the fireworks at the zoo. I still had it in my mind though that I wanted to see this amazing spectacle of lights, a Calgary holiday tradition, that has been so widely acclaimed and praised. Hence from this came our Christmas Eve plans to go visit the zoo in the winter!

Slade and I bundled up for what we expected to be about an hour tour … but in the end, we spent over 2 hours revelling in the beauty and splendour of over 2.5 million twinkling lights. I was really surprised at how quickly it put both of us in the holiday spirit — faster than you can say Bah Humbug!

From what I’ve been told this is the only interactive light show in the city that immerses you in the spirit of the season with sight, smell and sound. Along with moving ‘animal’ figures, a choreographed music light display delighted us both with its creativity. It was quite fun watching the kids play with inflatable exercise balls and Styrofoam snow cones throughout the park. I think my favourite displays were the ever-popular Candy Cane and Lover’s Lane. Intriguing were the few glimpses of animals that we saw scattered in the dark alleys of the park (camels, flamingos, mountain goats) and warming were the firepits dispersed throughout the grounds.