Around this time of year, late Oct. and early Nov., the nights get cold and most people tend to skip Thanksgiving celebrations, hanging up the christmas tree on November first going straight to the Christmas spirit. A popular Xavier attraction, ZooLights, hosted by the Phoenix Zoo, includes twinkling, beautiful lights and is being held this year from Nov. 21 to Jan. 13.

Every year, the Xavier community gets the early worm and is able to celebrate ZooLights before it opens to the public. Volunteers including Brisa Duarte, Anna Gomez, Emma Valentine, myself and Nicole Goldman are served a variety of delicious cookies, brownies, and famous hot chocolate from Xavier’s own tent.

When the sun started to set, families piled in with their little ones, who were rather excited to see Santa. Little did they know that under the big red costume was sophomore Anna Gomez, who played pretend for a couple of hours and helped spread the holiday spirit to others, “playing as Santa was super fun because being the cause of the kids happiness felt great!”

The night is full of countless dazzling lights arranged all throughout the Zoo. Every ten minutes, all of the lights would turn off and Christmas music slowly played, prompting the music sensitive lights to perform, hitting every beat perfectly.  

Brisa Duarte, a current sophomore and a volunteer that night, stated “It was pretty. It was my first time there [at ZooLights] and it was pretty fun to explore and walk around especially if you had someone, I wouldn’t go alone.” ZooLights is a great time for families, especially for children, to enjoy their time together as they walk through the hundreds of glowing displays.

Junior Nicole Goldman exclaimed, “It’s so cold, I regret not wearing something warmer.” For this fun adventure, warm clothes are definitely something to wear. So, grab your friends and head to ZooLights this Holiday season!