Holiday Parties

There is no minimum number of guests required to host your event at the Cincinnati Zoo. However, our 3^rd party catering team does require a food and beverage minimum to be met, depending on the food needs.

We require 3 baseline costs: Venue Cost, Admission Tickets, and our Food and Beverage Minimum.

The venue rental includes basic set-up of tables, chairs, and food/beverage tables. Any additional set-up needs will accrue additional costs.

Take advantage of our pre-booking sale for venue and ticket discounts!

All food and beverages are available through our on-site caterer only.

Yes, you are able to bring in your own, with approval from our Event Coordinator. Each room is dressed up with holiday décor as well.

The Zoo does not permit confetti, birdseed, glitter, table sprinkles, bubble or fog machines, drinking straws, disposable cup lids, or balloons of any type. No open flames permitted. Votive candles and hurricane globes are permitted with prior approval.

All costumed characters will need to be kept inside the venue space.

We highly encourage a come-and-go style event, where your group experiences the Lights and comes to the venue space to warm up and dive into some snacks and drinks. For dinners, we do have limited capacities for everybody to be seated at one time, but our catering menus can be catered to almost any group size.

The Zoo is open starting at 10am, with Festival of Lights festivities starting at 4pm. We are able to accommodate lunch events, and our standard evening holiday events can start at any time until the Zoo closes. Our recommended event start time is between 5 and 6pm; however, to avoid most traffic and parking delays during PNC Festival of Lights, we suggest attendees try to arrive before 4:30pm, especially on nice weather days and weekends. Event tickets are valid starting at 10am.

Events must end no later than 9pm Sunday-Thursday and 10pm Friday-Saturday.

Please complete the following Jotform or email [email protected] and our Private Events team will reach back out to you to start the booking process. In order to book, we require a signed event agreement and a deposit.

Final guest count is due no later than 10 business days prior to the event. At this time, we request tickets to be printed and the Group is responsible for distribution prior to the event.

Final payment is due once your final guest count has been received 10 days out. Events must be paid in full prior to the event.

If there are any additional items added to the invoice the day-of your event, an invoice will be sent within a week to be paid in full within 30 days.

Our Force Majeure Policy states that if there is a snow emergency and the agreement must be cancelled, then User shall be entitled to a full refund of all monies paid. We can also look into a possible reschedule, pending availability. However, if there is no emergency, then events are snow or shine!

The group is responsible for all ticket distribution prior to the event. Tickets are requested once the final guest count is received 10 business days prior. Tickets takes a minimum of 2 days to print. Once printed, there are 2 options:

1. Zoo Event Coordinator can leave them in Will-Call for one individual from the group to pick up prior to the event to distribute accordingly
2. Zoo Event Coordinator can send them via USPS for a $12 mailing fee

We offer discounted venue rental and ticket prices, with proof of non-profit status upon booking.

Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.

No, the Zoo does not accept memberships for private events. All guests attending the event will need to be considered in the final guest count for both tickets and catering needs.