"Tickets are valid for any one night between November 25, 2026 – January 15, 2027." That line sits on the Phoenix Zoo's ZooLights page, and it means a ZooLights ticket in your wallet commits you to nothing.
Up the road at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Desert Botanical Garden sells Las Noches de las Luminarias the other way. The ticketing page asks you to pick a date before anything else, and the event runs only on certain nights.
So if you want to see both this season, start with the Garden's calendar. The zoo's ticket bends around it. Lay the two schedules side by side and the holiday season on Galvin Parkway breaks into three stretches, each with its own rhythm.
One Ticket Floats, One Is Pinned to a Date
The basics first, since they explain everything after.
ZooLights runs from Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026, through Friday, Jan. 15, 2027, from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. General tickets cost $35 and member tickets $30. Children 2 and under get in free, and tickets can't be refunded.
Luminarias runs from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on these dates: Nov. 27–29; Dec. 4–6, 11–13, 16–23 and 26–31; and Jan. 1–3, 2027. Adult tickets cost $39.95 to $44.95 for general admission and $37.95 to $42.95 for Garden members. Tickets for kids ages 2 to 17 cost $18.95, or $16.95 for members. According to the Garden's Oct. 30 announcement, prices vary by ticket type and date, and advance tickets are recommended.
The Garden's list adds up to 26 nights. Last season, the Garden's November 2025 blog post described 19 nights beginning Nov. 28. That's seven more evenings of Luminarias this year, which fits the "more nights, more music" promise on the 2026 event page.
All 26 of those nights fall inside the ZooLights run. Once you've picked a Luminarias date, the zoo trip can go anywhere around it.
The Season in Three Stretches
Put the Garden's dates on a 2026 calendar and they cluster. Through mid-December, Luminarias is a Friday-to-Sunday event. From Dec. 16 it runs nearly every night. After Jan. 3, the zoo has Galvin Parkway to itself.
| Stretch | Luminarias | ZooLights | Dates to circle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 25 to Dec. 15 | Fri–Sun only: Nov. 27–29, Dec. 4–6, Dec. 11–13 | Running from Nov. 25 | Member Mondays Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14; Sensory Friendly ZooLights Tue., Dec. 8 |
| Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 | Nearly nightly: Dec. 16–23, Dec. 26–31, Jan. 1–3 | Running | Sonoran Santa at the Garden Dec. 18–23; zoo Santa photos end Dec. 23 |
| Jan. 4 to Jan. 17 | Finished | Through Jan. 15 | Member Mondays Jan. 4 and Jan. 11; Cruise ZooLights Sun., Jan. 17 |
Each stretch suits a different kind of evening.
Stretch one: weekends at the Garden, weeknights at the zoo
From Thanksgiving week to mid-December, the two venues barely overlap in practice. Luminarias holds the weekends. The zoo's own advice points to weeknights. Its ZooLights page calls Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the least crowded nights in general, and says the first two weeks of December tend to be less popular.
So the zoo's quietest window lines up with the stretch when Luminarias is dark Monday through Thursday. A family could do the Garden on a Saturday and the zoo on the following Tuesday without the two outings ever competing.
This stretch also holds the zoo's newest perk for members. Member Mondays is billed as a "new exclusive member benefit": members can buy up to six ZooLights tickets for $10 each on select Mondays. The first is the Nov. 23 member-preview night, and three more come right after the Garden's opening weekends, on Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14.
The Garden's own member event lands here too. Dec. 4–6 is Members Weekend, sponsored by Lexus, with what the Garden calls "special moments" and member perks. The event page does not describe it as members-only.
Two more dates fall in this stretch. Sensory Friendly ZooLights is Tuesday, Dec. 8, with smaller crowds, quieter music and less flashing light; it needs a separate ticket. And if you want a personalized tribute luminaria bag displayed at the Garden's Ottosen Entry Garden Terrace, Dec. 9 is the last day to buy one.
Stretch two: both venues, almost every night
From Wednesday, Dec. 16, Luminarias runs eight nights in a row through Dec. 23. After a break on Dec. 24 and 25, it picks up again Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 3. This is the only stretch when Luminarias runs on weeknights, so both venues are lit Monday through Thursday.
At the Garden, Sonoran Santa and Mrs. Claus are there Nov. 27–29 and again Dec. 18–23. At the zoo, Santa photos run Nov. 25 through Dec. 23, with reservations and a separate fee. That gives two windows when both venues have Santa photos: Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 27–29, and Dec. 18–23, the final week before the zoo's photos end.
Stretch three: the zoo's January tail
Luminarias wraps on Jan. 3. ZooLights keeps going through Jan. 15, and the zoo says all of January tends to be less popular. Then on Sunday, Jan. 17, two days after the walking season ends, Cruise ZooLights lets you drive through the light tunnel and past the floating light show on the main lake from your car. It needs its own ticket.
An any-night ticket bought as a stocking stuffer can still be used here, well after the Garden has packed up.
What's New Behind Each Gate
Some of this season's additions are reasons to pick one stretch over another.
At Desert Botanical Garden:
- Super Bloom by Graphic Rewilding, an immersive exhibit of oversized floral art spread through the Garden
- Live music the Garden calls expanded, with Traveler World Orchestra, Simply Three and Vinyl Station on select evenings and a full lineup published by the Garden
- Holiday trees, wreaths and seasonal displays with what the Garden describes as a "distinctly Sonoran Desert twist"
At the Phoenix Zoo:
- "Wander the Wonder, A Trail Less Ordinary," a brand-new route of illusion-style installations along the zoo's Arizona Trail, presented by Valley Toyota Dealers
- Six more 24-foot trees around the 50-foot LED tree in the Lake Lights show, presented by Midwestern University
- Returning favorites: the 200-foot immersive light tunnel, the Glow Garden, the Dinosaurs in the Desert trail, the three-story Christmas tree, and s'mores by the fire in Plaza de los Niños
ZooLights is a light walk more than an animal visit. The zoo says most animals won't be visible during the event and suggests a daytime trip if seeing them is the goal.
Doing Both in One Night
The posted hours make a single-night double feature possible, if your group has the stamina. Luminarias opens at 5 p.m. ZooLights stays open until 10:30 p.m. And the zoo itself says most guests arrive right at opening, so showing up around 7:30 to 8 p.m., after the first wave, can make entry smoother.
Here's how that evening would run on paper:
- Arrive at the Garden near 5 p.m. Parking at Desert Botanical Garden is free. There's a dedicated rideshare drop-off and pick-up area, and overflow parking opens during peak visitation.
- Book dinner ahead if you're eating there. During Luminarias, the Garden "highly recommends" reservations at Gertrude's by Tarbell's, which you can make through OpenTable.
- Head south on Galvin Parkway toward 7:30. That puts you at the zoo right in its suggested arrival window.
- Watch the message boards on the way in. If the zoo's main lots are full, the boards send drivers to the overflow lot at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on the southwest corner of Van Buren and Priest. From there it's about a 15-minute walk on a lit, paved path.
The City of Phoenix's Galvin Bikeway Trail links the two venues. It's a 1.4-mile concrete path along the east side of Galvin Parkway that connects Desert Botanical Garden, Papago Park and the Phoenix Zoo, with access to a bus stop on Van Buren Street. The city lists trail hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and trailhead hours of 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In the first stretch, a same-night double only works Friday through Sunday, since those are the only nights Luminarias runs. In stretch two, both venues run on the same nights, so splitting the visits across two evenings costs nothing extra, since the zoo ticket was never tied to a date.
Picking the Order
Choose your Luminarias date first. It's the only one of the two with fixed nights, it's the one the Garden recommends buying ahead, and its 26 nights fill only part of the ZooLights run from Nov. 25 to Jan. 15. Once that night is set, the ZooLights ticket fits wherever the zoo's quieter nights fall: a Monday through Wednesday, the first two weeks of December, or the January stretch after the Garden has closed for the season.
Whether you're hosting family over the holidays or just mapping out your own December around Papago Park, the team at The Mitchell Group AZ is always glad to swap notes on the local calendar. And if you're curious what your own home on this side of town is worth heading into the new year, we'll put together a human-prepared valuation for you. Just ask to Get Your Home's Value.
