"A must see Experience!"

The Festival of Illumination, a breath-taking evening display, will begin this September and run through to January 2, 2022, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, 5:30pm to 10:00pm. During this must see experience, Southwick's Zoo will be illuminated by hundreds of custom built lantern exhibits meticulously hand-crafted from silk, steel and environmentally-friendly LED lighting.

The theme of this year’s Festival of Illumination will be "World of Lights - Our Continents and their Cultures.” In addition to highlighting traditional culture, this spectacular will shine a light on a variety of continents and their traditions. Travel the globe through the incredible artistry of handcrafted Chinese Lanterns and immerse yourself in the magical world of imagination and illumination. The lantern exhibits will take you on a trip through the African Savannahs, the Amazon rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, as well as many beautiful and fascinating regions in between. Visitors will also enjoy live entertainment, a typical Asian Night Marketplace and specialty foods.

Starting on November 26th, 2021 through January 2nd, 2022 Southwick's Zoo's traditional Winter Wonderland's holiday lights and additional holiday themed Chinese Lanterns will be added, as well as the opportunity to visit Santa in his Enchanted Village.

The Lantern Festival is a centuries-old tradition, celebrated beginning in 206 B.C. featuring spectacular illuminated displays from history and mythology. These displays are incredibly detailed and intricately constructed, with some lanterns as large as 20 meters tall and 100 meters in length.

The Festival of Illumination engages in fully showing the charm of artistic and traditional culture of lantern displays with the integration of traditional technology and modern craftsmanship, resulting in a unique and amazing display, rich in cultural and artistic expression like you have never seen before.