A Parade All Day

Virginia Zoo brings animals to life with light.

The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk is lighting up the season with its first-ever ZooLumination, a showcase of giant inflatable animals. Executive Director Greg Bockheim says the winter exhibition—which includes a trio of 30-foot giraffes—“furthers our mission by educating people about wildlife.” Visitors can walk or drive through the exhibit, by day or at night. Look for a blue crab, sloth, red panda, and crocodile among the 29 “animals” in the lineup.

The merry menagerie was designed by Landmark Creations, the company behind custom, over-the-top inflatables for clients like Ariana Grande and General Mills. As with Richmond’s GardenFest of Lights, ZooLumination promises to delight visitors of all ages while also providing educational audio on the animal kingdom. Nov. 19 through Jan. 9. VirginiaZoo.org


This article originally appeared in the December 2021issue.

Konstantin Rega
Konstantin Rega is the former digital editor of Virginia Living. A graduate of East Anglia’s creative writing program and the University of Kent, he is now the digital content producer at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. He has been published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Poetry Salzburg Review, Publishers Weekly, and Treblezine.
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