Potawatomi Zoo gets ready to light up the South Bend night with Zoo Luminate
Ed Semmler
- Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Ind., will host its first-ever Chinese lantern festival from March 19 to May 25.
- The event, called Zoo Luminate, will feature hundreds of illuminated displays of animals and plants, along with music and interactive elements.
- Admission to Zoo Luminate is $20 for adults and $15 for children, with discounts available for zoo members and families.
SOUTH BEND ― Employees from Tianyu Arts & Culture have been busy putting the finishing touches on the first-ever Chinese lantern festival at Potawatomi Zoo.
The event, which runs Wednesdays through Sundays from 6 to 10 p.m. beginning March 19 and through May 25, features 100s of colorful and often interactive displays that organizers believe could attract an additional 60,000 visitors to the zoo this year.
Most of the displays, which are made of translucent cloth and lit with LED lights, depict oversized animals and plants of Asia, Africa and North America, and are placed in the appropriate section of the zoo with animals from those areas.
Work on the display has been underway since mid-February when Tianyu started unloading and placing 18 truckloads of tigers, pandas, gorillas, bears, giraffes and a host of other animals throughout the zoo.
There will also be appropriate music to go with the experience of walking through the zoo at night with paths lit by the oversized plants and animals. A peacock, dragon, bears and other animals also include animation, and spots have been created where photos can be taken for souvenir or social-media purposes.
How about sitting on a chair surrounded by colorful, lit tropical plants or on a swing surrounded by lights? Other displays allow visitors to change the colors of a giant chameleon by stepping on a control pad or change the lighting in a tree by hitting a drum.
Tianyu has set up more than 150 such displays over the past 10 years as a way to boost exposure and attendance at zoos, botanical gardens and other venues across the United States.
But Potawatomi Zoo might be the smallest zoo to host a lantern festival with Tianyu, said Kyle Etheridge, director of guest services at the zoo. “To bring in an event like this is a testament to our growth.”
The zoo has signed a three-year contract for the lantern event, meaning it will be repeated in 2026 and 2027, although with different displays for patrons.
Eventually, the event, called Zoo Luminate, could also be moved to a different time of the year, said Josh Sisk, executive director of the zoo. Because of later sunsets caused by daylight saving time, there’s also a possibility that closing hours might be extended on a couple of weekend nights, he added.
The event is $20 for adults and $15 for children. Zoo members can receive discounted admission of $18 for adults and $13 for children at the gate. Children 2 and younger are free. A discounted ticket four-pack of two adult tickets and two child tickets is also available for $60. Online ticketing already has started.
The zoo train and carousel will be available during Zoo Luminate, weather permitting. Tickets are $3 per person. Giraffe feeding will not be available during this event.
Concessions and the bar in The Lodge will be open. Drinks, snacks and adult beverages will be available at the Farmhouse Café near the red barn.
The zoo has been opening new exhibits in recent years ― including habitats for giraffes, lions and Andean bears as well as a new concession lodge. This year, it plans to begin building new habitats for its big cats.
And annual zoo attendance has grown accordingly ― gaining more than 150,000 in annual attendance over the past 10 years. After finishing 2024 with 360,000 visitors, the zoo should easily break 400,000 in 2025, Sisk said.
A 2016 study projected that improvements outlined in its master plan would allow annual attendance to grow 61% to 350,000 visitors by 2026.
"The Potawatomi Zoo is already on an incredible trajectory with its recent enhancements and additions," said Jeff Jarnecke, executive director of Visit South Bend Mishawaka. "Now, with the incredible experience that is Zoo Luminate, residents and visitors alike will be drawn to the zoo for this special event."
The 350,000 goal set years ago already has been exceeded, and half a million annual visitors is the new goal, Sisk said, adding that a new master plan will be released later this year.
“The zoo boosts the quality of place for residents in the region, but it’s also able to extend stays for visitors to the region,” he said.
The lantern festival could provide that additional spark.
“We think the festival could bring in visitors from 50 miles away,” Sisk said.
The zoo opens for regular hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily on March 28.
Email Tribune staff writer Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.