Visit Indianapolis Zoo's "Marsh Christmas at the Zoo"

By Maura Giles

Indianapolis, IN - This year, Marsh Christmas at the Zoo, the Indianapolis Zoo’s annual holiday spectacular, features a new sponsor for one of the city’s most popular seasonal celebrations, plus the addition of the new Santa’s Sweet Shop. Marsh Christmas at the Zoo, which includes Indiana Rail Road’s Holiday Trainland, will run December 5-30 at the Indianapolis Zoo. The Zoo will open at noon daily, with Marsh Christmas at the Zoo activities scheduled from 5pm until 9pm each night. (The Zoo is closed Christmas Eve & Day).

Marsh Senior Director of Communications Connie Gardner said regarding the new affiliation, “The Indianapolis Zoo is a world-class resource as well as a leader in research, education and conservation. Marsh Supermarkets is proud of our long-term association with the Indianapolis Zoo.  We have been privileged to sponsor the Dolphin Pavilion for a number of years and are excited to be expanding our partnership to include Marsh Christmas at the Zoo.”

As part of Marsh Christmas at the Zoo, Indiana Rail Road’s Holiday Trainland returns to White River Gardens. Nestled within the Hilbert Conservatory will be multiple model train layouts featuring towns, cities, parks, factories, and even a country fair, all including a variety of train sizes and themes. Holiday Trainland is open from noon until 9pm daily, December 5-30. Visitors can enjoy both holiday attractions for one low admission price of only $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for seniors age 62+ and children ages 2-12. Children one and under are free, and parking is $5. Indianapolis Zoo members are admitted free. Discount tickets are on sale at all Central Indiana Marsh and O’Malia’s locations, or guests can receive $1.00 off admission with the donation of a new hat, scarf or gloves for the Julian Center Mitten Tree.

 Marsh Christmas at the Zoo
Enveloped by the warm glow of twinkling holiday lights, an evening at Marsh Christmas at the Zoo is a memorable and magical experience. Over 150 larger-than-life light sculptures depict holiday and animal scenes with candy canes, snowflakes, Santa Claus and reindeer, Victorian carolers, giraffes, lions, deer, elephants, flamingos, swans and many others.

The North Pavilion will be transformed into Santa’s Village presented by Starbucks, where visitors can meet Santa, Mrs. Claus and two reindeer, which will once again be transported by Wheaton World Wide Moving to and from the North Pole to keep them fresh for their Christmas Eve flight. (Santa visits end December 23.) Other activities in the North Pavilion include cookie decorating, writing letters to Santa and the Lowe’s Wishing and Blessing Trees. There will be plenty of other activities to do indoors, with the annual holiday dolphin show, dolphin dome, Deserts Biome, Oceans presented by Old National Bank and Critter Corner sponsored by ARAB.

Outside, visitors can see their favorite animals that enjoy the cooler weather—polar bears, walruses, seals, tigers, red pandas, and more. School and community choirs will be entertaining guests through December 23, and carolers in traditional garb will perform around the campfire, taking requests and leading sing-alongs. Visitors can also enjoy nightly rides on the White River Junction Holiday Train, the Carousel and a special holiday presentation of “Santa’s Late” on the 3-D Simulator Ride (all weather and crowd dependent).

If guests get hungry, there are plenty of options for dining. New this year, the Zoo’s Outpost will be transformed into Santa’s Sweet Shop and will feature oversized gourmet caramel apples and rice crispy treats, freshly baked cinnamon rolls and cookies, as well as homemade fudge and brownies. The Café on the Commons will be open from noon to 9pm with its regular menu, plus festive options like holiday sippers for the kids, cotton candy and hot cider. Meanwhile, freshly roasted almonds and pecans, salted pretzels and hot cocoa will be available for sale throughout the Zoo grounds.

Indiana Rail Road Company presents Holiday Trainland
Traveling model trains highlight the Indiana Rail Road’s Holiday Trainland event at White River Gardens. This delightful event for the whole family includes beautiful holiday plants and flowers, along with the trains zipping through charming village scenes and mountain ranges.

Visitors can even try their hands at a scavenger hunt to find items located throughout the extraordinarily detailed scenes, and then present their completed findings to Guest Services to receive a prize.

Visitors to White River Gardens won’t want to miss the beautiful, two-story tall tree decorated with ribbon, lights and pinecones in the Gardens’ Schaefer Rotunda entrance. The curved stone walls are lined with photographs of Indiana Rail Road Trains and the grand old days of railroading. The Grand Hallway up the stairs is elegantly decorated and takes guests to The Christmas Shoppe full of holiday gifts for all ages that can’t be found anywhere else, including animal ornaments representing each of the Zoo biomes, Christmas-themed ornaments, stuffed animals and more.

Changing The Lights
This year, the Marsh Christmas at the Zoo and Indiana Rail Road’s Holiday Trainland will glow a little “greener” as the Indianapolis Zoo continues to replace its lights with the environmentally friendly LEDs (light-emitting diode). This year, half of the displays have been changed to LEDs, as well as one third of the twinkling lights. Visitors will see in each of the coming years a new section of the Zoo filled with the brighter, crisper lights.

For the latest information on activities at the Zoo’s holiday events, visitors can go to the Zoo’s web site at www.indianapoliszoo.com, and look under Special Events.

Located in White River State Park downtown, the Indianapolis Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the American Association of Museums as a zoo, aquarium and botanical garden. The Indianapolis Zoo inspires local and global communities to celebrate, protect, and preserve our natural world through conservation, education, and research, and by providing an enriching and wondrous environment for our visitors and the animals in our care. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things.