Brookfield Zoo Holiday Magic

Brookfield, IL · Holiday

When: November 21, 2026 – January 4, 2027
Where: Brookfield Zoo, 8400 W 31st St · Brookfield · IL
Cost: Not confirmed
Status: Approximate: based on past editions, not announced yet

Brookfield Zoo Chicago's Holiday Magic wraps the zoo grounds in more than 2 million LED lights each winter, with model train displays and seasonal treats. The tradition has run for more than 40 years, typically opening in late November and continuing through the first week of January. Exact 2026 to 2027 dates had not yet been announced by the zoo as of this writing.

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The history within reach

Brookfield Zoo Holiday Magicsame spot
Brookfield Zoo Chicago's Holiday Magic wraps the zoo grounds in more than 2 million LED lights each winter, with model train displays and seasonal treats.
Brookfield Zoo opens with moats instead of cages0.1 mi
Brookfield opened on 216 acres in 1934 and built its enclosures with moats and ditches rather than bars, an approach that drew attention well past Chicago.
Hofmann Tower, a brewer's folly over the Des Plaines0.9 mi
The brewer George Hofmann Jr.
Riverside, the Olmsted suburb where nobody lives on a grid1.1 mi
Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux laid out Riverside in 1869 as one of the first planned suburbs in the United States.
Showmen's Rest and the stone elephants with lowered trunks1.6 mi
The Showmen's League of America bought a 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery in 1917.