The Lights Before Christmas facts for kids

The Lights Before Christmas is an annual event that happens once a year at the Toledo Zoo in Toledo, Ohio. Every year between the middle of November until New Year's Day, anyone can visit the lights and enjoy a nice Christmas treat. It is a very well known event throughout Toledo. People from the ages of newborn to 90 years of age all come and enjoy the lights. The animals will still be able to be seen, but some may be inside and not in the natural habitat because of the cold and the snow.

Statistics (2010)

• 2010 was the Zoo's 25th annual Lights Before Christmas.
• The lights feature over one million lights and over 200 light animal images.
• The Zoo features an 85-foot Norway Spruce Tree decorated with over 30,000 lights.
• Nearly 50,000 feet of extension cord is used, and that is nearly 10 miles long.
• It takes around two months to take down the lights and get them ready for the next year.
• If all the lights were to be strung together, they would stretch nearly 70 miles.
• The record attendance for a Lights Before Christmas season was 2006, with 178,177 visitors.

Hours

The Lights Before Christmas is displayed nightly from November 20 - December 31, 2009 except on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve. and Christmas Day.

• Monday through Thursday 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Park closes at 9:00 p.m.)
• Friday through Sunday 5:00-9:00 p.m. (Park closes at 10:00 p.m.)