It's great fun, and while no one has actually counted the lights in the light parade, the number has been estimated at more than 1 million. The parade is on the first Saturday of December starting at 7 PM, and admission is free. Southwestern-style luminarias are paper bags weighted down with sand, with each bag containing a lighted candle. It's a holiday tradition to place luminarias along a path to brighten the way in the dark nights of winter. At this Saturday and Sunday event in the first weekend in December, the garden paths glow with 7,000 luminarias, which makes for quite a sight.
Musical entertainment adds to the scene.
This is a popular event, so buy tickets as soon as possible. Recent policy has been to sell no tickets at the door. The Phoenix Zoo strings more than 600,000 lights along the pathways and up in the trees. Look carefully, and you'll see light displays of butterflies, birds, spiders, snakes and larger creatures. Also enrapturing children are the many costumed characters, the dancing trees and Grandmother Oak, a talking tree.