Boo at the Zoo: A Milwaukee County Tradition

The Milwaukee County Zoo held its annual event “Boo at the Zoo” from October 17-19, bringing delight to families around Halloween time and offering different activities and new experiences for people to participate in among the animals.

“This is one of our classics, but we always want to improve and make it better,” said Kimberly Graves, the communication and PR coordinator at the Zoo.“We love to see our families and our community come up, and we want to make it as affordable as possible.”

The event is held on the zoo grounds from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., after operating hours. 

Graves has been working at the Zoo for a little over two years and the event has been going on for longer than she can remember. The event has mostly stayed the same over the years except for COVID-19, where they did a drive-through version of Boo at the Zoo.

“The idea for Boo at the Zoo is to delight not fright,” said Graves. Boo at the Zoo is meant to be an experience for all ages with just the right amount of spooks.  

The event is sponsored by many different companies, with Prairie Farms as the main sponsor. The Zoo also brings in private contractors to set up the lights around the zoo, but most of the setup is done by Zoo staff and volunteers.

Tickets sold at $16 for adults and $14 for ages three to twelve. Multiple different activities were included in the ticket price.

One new experience at Boo at the Zoo is the Haystack Maze. This new experience takes over the West Entrance parking lot by the Otter Passage. Visitors can make their way through a medium-height haystack maze with only one exit and one entrance.

One family celebrated their first time here. Abigail Martin, a mother from the Milwaukee area said “I think it’s great and it’s nice they put this together.”

The main event was the Trick-Or-Treat trail, where visitors were greeted with a tunnel covered in lights with a bright sign that said  “trick or treat” that pointed to the start of the trail. 

The Trick or Treat trail took you around Adventure Africa, with 10 stops for candy. Many volunteers were the ones handing out candy. One volunteer Jessie Diliveerti has been here for about two years. “This is the first event I’ve volunteered for here. I’m normally the one standing around so people can ask me questions about the animals.”

Some animal exhibits were open to the public during the event, including Small Mammals, Aquatic & Reptile Center, Dairy Complex, Florence Mila Borchert Big Cat Country, Primates of the World, and Stern’s Family Apes of Africa. 

The Humboldt Penguin exhibit would have been open, but it is currently closed for renovation and expected to open in December of this year. Similarly, Adventure to Africa is undergoing a renovation to the exhibit, making it bigger and better and preparing for rhinos to reenter the Zoo.

Giant Pumpkin Carvings was another one of the activities you were able to set your sites on. A professional ice sculpting company Rock On Ice was hired for the event. They’ve been working on this event for about 10 years. “We are an ice carving business but we also specialize in pumpkins,” said Jason Bartlett, an employee for Rock On Ice. “I’ve been here for about seven years.”

The night before the Boo and the Zoo event, Zoo staff get together and they have a pumpkin carving party. Staff say this is a fun way to get closer to one another and get ready for the event.

Science experiments for children are found throughout the Zoo specifically at the Northwestern Mutual Family Farm and the Lakeview Landing. One of the experiments was brought by Mad Science of Milwaukee. Kids were able to experience science experiments in real-time. They were able to interact with, smell, and touch the experiments.

Creatures of the Night Talks took place in three different zoo areas. There was an informational session about snakes in the Aquatic and Reptile Center. Another session about bats took place in the Small Mammals Building, and across from the Northwestern Mutual Family Farm session leaders discussed other spooky creatures, but those other creatures were not named.

There are attractions that visitors could pay for on top of the general admission price, such as the train and the carousel.

“Jinxed-A spooktacular Adventure,” a new virtual reality experience offered for an additional six dollars. Appearing in 2022, the experience takes you on a thrilling funhouse ride packed with delightful surprises at every turn. Outside of Boo at the Zoo, you can experience Gorilla Trek VR year-round.

The Milwaukee Zoo is now gearing up for its Wild Lights event from November 30th to December 31st. Here is a link for more information.