More than 6,000 hand-carved pumpkins are about to light up the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden as Jack O'Lantern Glow returns for its third year, opening Friday, October 2, with its biggest display yet. The after-hours trail stretches a half-mile through the zoo grounds and now features more than 20 themes, from animals to celebrities, spread across an updated layout designed to fit the growing collection.
The event debuted in 2024 with roughly 5,000 illuminated pumpkins, and this year's total marks a jump to more than 6,000, according to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. As reported by FOX19, zoo staff redesigned the trail's layout specifically to accommodate the expanded roster of themed carvings, and the event has grown into the largest of its kind in the tri-state area.
Behind that scale is a small army of local talent. Over 15 local artists logged more than 7,000 combined hours carving and decorating the displays, with some of the most intricate single pumpkins taking upwards of eight hours to complete, per the zoo. Carvers for the trail include students from institutions like the Art Academy of Cincinnati, who design and execute their own themed pieces for the display.
When the Trail Runs and What It Costs
Jack O'Lantern Glow opens nightly from October 2 through October 31, with three exceptions: the trail is closed on October 5, 12, and 19, according to FOX19. Entry timeslots run between 6 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. on weekdays and stretch to 9:45 p.m. on weekends, and the zoo's own event details note that Tuesday and Wednesday sessions wrap by 9 p.m. while Thursday-through-Sunday nights run until 10 p.m.
Tickets are sold separately from general admission, with timed pricing running $15 to $25 for adults and $10 to $20 for children, per Southwest Ohio Parent Magazine. Visitors can also opt for a date-flexible “4 for $44 Boo Bundle” or a line-skipping “Glow Go Pass,” and while the event isn't included with general zoo membership, members do receive a $3 to $5 discount per ticket, the outlet notes.
The zoo keeps a pair of historic buildings open later than usual to accommodate evening visitors: the Reptile House and Night Hunters building stay open until 9 p.m. during Glow nights. The Reptile House itself dates to 1875 and is recognized as the oldest standing zoo building in the country, a distinction tied to its 1987 designation as a National Historic Landmark.
A Daytime Companion Event and a Growing Fall Calendar
Jack O'Lantern Glow isn't the zoo's only autumn offering. On October weekends, the zoo also runs “HallZOOween” from noon to 5 p.m., a daytime event featuring trick-or-treating and animal pumpkin enrichment that's included with standard admission, according to Visit Cincy. That daytime tradition is distinct from the ticketed, after-dark Glow trail, giving families two separate ways to mark the season at the zoo.
The pumpkin trail is part of a broader push by the 151-year-old institution to expand its seasonal event lineup beyond its winter centerpiece, the PNC Festival of Lights, which was voted the nation's top zoo lights display in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice awards for eight straight years through 2025, per Movers & Makers. That winter show uses 5 million LED lights across the park, a scale Jack O'Lantern Glow is still building toward in its third year.
Founded in 1875, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden ranks as the second-oldest zoo in the United States, behind only the Philadelphia Zoo. Seasonal events like Jack O'Lantern Glow have become a key piece of that legacy institution's modern operations — a 2023 University of Cincinnati economic study found the zoo generates $169 million in annual economic impact for the tri-state region and draws more than 1.7 million visitors a year.
