As we head into the last weekend before Halloween, families in the Chicago area that are looking for some not-so-scary, but definitely fun-filled adventure should head out to Brookfield Zoo for the return of the annual Boo! at the Zoo. Presented by Chicago’s own Ferrara Candy Company, Boo! at the Zoo kicked off this past weekend, and will showcase fun events from 10am-4pm on October 29 & 30, 2016. Sharing the goodness with the local community, the folks at Ferrara have donated more than 10,000 pounds of candy, and have provided more than 300 volunteers to aid the Brookfield Zoo staff in making this spooktacular event a memorable one, with trick-or-treat stations located throughout the zoo, and plenty of fun photo opps as well! But that’s not all…
In the spirit of giving back, Ferrara Candy Company is sponsoring 400+ neighbors with complimentary admission and transportation to Boo! at the Zoo. Our family had the opportunity to visit the zoo to check out a special “Animal Encounter” that was being presented as part of the Ferrara event to guests from a local park district. There we learned about Georgette – who, at 37, is one of the oldest living Turkey Vultures in the world!
While the overall vibe of being at Brookfield Zoo while seeing it fully decked-out for fall and Halloween was awesome, one unexpected bonus to an autumn visit was something we’d not previously considered as frequent summer visitors to the zoo… how active and lively the animals are. Often times, we’ve visited the zoo on very hot days where the animals were just sunning themselves or trying to cool off. During an October visit, we saw giant bears playfully swimming… sea lions chasing each other from water to land and barking like pups… a full wolf pack awaiting their feeding… and meerkats, monkeys and gorillas celebrating Halloween. And how do they celebrate? With pumpkins, of course!
We also managed to catch one of the best dolphin shows we’ve ever seen, took a season-ending ride on the carousel, and The Rock Daughters™ were able to trick-or-treat early, scoring all kinds of sweet treats, like Trolli, Now & Later, Lemonheads, Black Forest Organic and more.
For a full schedule of Boo! at the Zoo activities, check out czs.org/Boo. Thanks to Ferrera Candy Company for inviting us to take part!
