Get your costumes ready. Boo at the Zoo, the National Zoo’s family-friendly trick-or-treating event, is back this Halloween season on October 20, 21, and 22.
Visitors to this fun holiday event will don their Halloween best and head to the zoo for an evening of trick-or-treating through the decorated grounds. Olmsted Walk will be decked out in festive décor like skeletons, and the animal habitats will be on-theme with jack-o’-lanterns, enrichment toys, and treats for the animals.
Even exhibits like the Small Mammal House, the Elephant Community Center, and the Reptile Discovery Center will be open.
There will be roughly 30 stations throughout the park handing out treats. Each visitor will receive a free reusable tote bag for trick-or-treating.
Guests of all ages can dress up, though adults cannot wear full-face masks, and no costumes may include props that look like weapons.
The event runs for three days after regular zoo hours, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Zoo members get early access starting at 5 p.m.
All guests over age 2 need a ticket to enter. Tickets will go on sale for non-members on Thursday, September 14. Non-member tickets are $35, and member tickets are $25.
The ticket price does not include parking passes. Parking is $20 per vehicle for zoo members and $30 per vehicle for non-members.
The zoo does note that tickets and parking passes to this popular event tend to sell out quickly, so those who are interested should purchase tickets early.
Feature image by Juan-Carlos Briceno, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
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