Long-running Zoo Idaho event to be held on Halloween this year
Published at | Updated at
POCATELLO –- This year, Pocatello’s zoo will hold its biggest annual event on the holiday it celebrates — a relatively rare occurence.
On Halloween, which falls on a Saturday this year, Zoo Idaho will be celebrating ‘Zoo Boo,’ an annual event that brings games, a costume contest and trick-or-treating to the zoo. The event is normally held on the last Saturday in October, so many years pass between Zoo Boo events that are held on Halloween.
“This is the first time in almost 10 years that it’s on an actual Halloween. … So that’s a rare event, to actually have it on Halloween itself,” said Dan Albro, Zoo Idaho education coordinator.
Zoo Idaho, which is located at 2900 South 2nd Ave. and covers 26 acres in the Ross Park area, is what Director Peter Pruett has described as an “indigenous zoo,” which only hosts animals native to the Intermountain West, and works directly with Fish and Game to house rescued animals.
RELATED | What does it take to care for rescued animals? I went to Zoo Idaho to find out
Zoo Boo is an event that has been running for so long that neither Albro nor the coworkers he asked know when it first started. Albro said that it’s established enough within the Pocatello community that getting the word out requires little marketing.
“I think (people) just know Zoo Boo is coming. It’s just, ‘when’s the date?'” Albro said.
Admission is free for infants, $5 for children ages 3 to 11, $7 for ages 12 to 59 and $5.50 for seniors. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Attendees will find vendor booths set up all along the zoo’s circulation trail, offering candy and in some cases, games and activities.
For people looking to grab a bite to eat or a treat to snack on, there will be four options:
- Supper Yummy Bowl
- Dipped by MS
- Snowie Pocatello
- Shiver Shack Snow Cones LLC
There will also be a costume contest, which Albro said is competitive, with hundreds of entries. Last year, he said they had around 300 entries. It normally takes a few weeks for staff and the Zoo Idaho Zoological Society Board of Directors to select winners due to the high number of entries.
And new this year, Zoo Idaho will have its barn decorated in the spirit of the holiday.
“It’s going to be a haunted barn, so that will be a new feature that I don’t think we’ve had in quite some time,” Albro said.
The way Albro sees it, Zoo Boo is a special event that children look back on fondly after they’ve grown up. For people who haven’t been to the zoo in a while, he sees it as the perfect chance to come back and see what it has to offer.
“It’s a chance to hang out … in a nice 26-acre area where it’s safe, it’s fun, and you can hang out … all day,” Albro said.