Name: Zooluminate!
Start: 2025-12-12T17:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-12-12T19:30:00+00:00
Location: Dartmoor Zoo, PL75DG

Zooluminate is back – and this year as a little festive thank you, your ticket includes a free hot drink of your choice and a mince pie, with GF options available upon request!
Experience a magical and wintery walk around our gorgeous site, taking in a series of beautiful light installations (from JHAV, the incredible team that brought you The Atlantic Project and Illuminate Festival of Light), which bring the zoo to life after dark in the most enchanting way possible!
Even if you’ve experienced Zooluminate before, with a whole host of new and exciting installations, you won’t want to miss the brand-new Zooluminate experience this year!
There are stunning installation spaces the entire way around our site, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities for those selfies, plus – some of our enclosures are going to be illuminated, so you might even get the chance to see our animals all snuggled up for the night.
We can’t guarantee the animals will be outside of their cosy homes, but the lights have been specifically researched and chosen to illuminate without causing any harm or disruption, so if they’re outside, you should be able to capture some wonderful evening photos of our very happy animals.
Santa’s Grotto
Meet Santa, get a surprise, mini plush, try some arts and crafts with one of our happy elves and get plenty of opportunities for those festive photos! This is a ticketed event, NOT included within Zooluminate general admission/annual pass tickets and spaces are strictly limited and may not be available on the evening, so we strongly suggest booking in advance. Each slot lasts approximately 20 minutes and tickets are £10 for 1 adult and 1 child. Excludes 24th – 28th December.
Our Jaguar Restaurant is open daily until 19.00 throughout the event, offering a whole host of delicious food, drink and snack options to refuel your Zoo adventure, including some festive specials.
Admission is from 17:00 – 18:30 and the event closes at 19:30.
T&Cs
Zooluminate is an evening, ticketed event – access to this event is NOT included within your general admission/annual pass tickets and requires a separate admission ticket to attend. If you are an annual pass holder or purchase a general admission ticket as well as a Zooluminate ticket, you will be given a wristband and can stay on site after the Zoo closure at 16:00.
This event is exempt from offers and discount codes.
Tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE but can be transferred to another night in extreme weather conditions where the Zoo may need to close.
Last entry to Zooluminate is at 18:30 and guests will need to leave the Zoo by 19:30.
The Zoo will be closed on the 24th – 26th December.
Each ticket receives an accompanying voucher for a hot drink and mince pie – these cannot be exchanged for monetary value or other items within our Jaguar Restaurant. GF options are available upon request.
Santa’s Grotto is a separate, ticketed event – access to this event is NOT included within your general admission/annual pass tickets and requires a separate admission ticket to attend. Spaces are limited so we strongly suggest booking in advance. Excludes 24th – 28th December.
Although areas of the Zoo are illuminated, there will still be dark spots around our site, we suggest wearing sturdy footwear and bringing a torch/using your phone light. Torches are available for purchase in our Jaguar Restaurant.
Please note our site is uneven in some places and may not be suitable for wheelchair users.
Due to animal welfare, at no point can torches or phone lights be shone into our animal’s enclosures.
There will be areas around site that are not accessible during Zooluminate, these will be clearly marked for ease of navigation.