Butterfly Pavilion Announces a New Holiday Tradition with Two Weeks of the Living Lights Festival, December 17, 2021 – January 2, 2022

Immersive, Entertaining Evening offers an educational and enchanting journey through luminous exhibits featuring glow-in-the dark invertebrates to Meet the Firefly Princess

Westminster, CO – November 9, 2021 – Butterfly Pavilion announced today Living Lights, Denver’s newest holiday lights event, immersing guests into an enchanted, indoor festival of lights where they embark on a quest to meet the Firefly Princess.  Escaping the winter weather, this indoor, timed-entry event is filled with luminous aerial artists, radiant performers, glowing invertebrate exhibits, and an electrifying kid’s glow-in-the- dark dance party with an unveiling of the Firefly Princess.

“Events such as Living Lights are not only entertaining, but also help foster an appreciation for invertebrates and their integral role in ensuring a healthy planet,” said Russ Pecoraro, Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Visitor Experience. “Immersing people from an early age into a fun, yet educational, environment where they can experience these tiny giants in their natural habitats can fuel a lifetime of gratitude and support for protecting them.”

Butterfly Pavilion will light up in a rainbow of colors as visitors walk through the exhibits and see the world of invertebrates in a new and enchanting way. The experience includes:

• Biofluorescent invertebrate animals and glowing exhibits lighting pathways as visitors embark on their journey
• Illuminated landscapes showcasing natural habitats for these tiny creatures
• An engaging, enchanted Firefly Forest within the Wings of the Tropics butterfly conservatory
• Mesmerizing aerial artists adorning the indoor skies with performances inspired by the metamorphosis from pupa to firefly
• Captivating, interactive performers simulating various invertebrates
• Hottest kid-friendly glow-in-the-dark dance “rave” in town with electrifying music and glowsticks galore
• Memory-making, festive photo opp station for capturing this magical experience

Guests will learn more about how invertebrates are the foundational animal species within all ecosystems on our planet and upon which all life relies. They will also discover current conservation efforts Butterfly Pavilion is leading such as work hosting firefly larvae to hand-rear these beetles from their larval stage to their final adult stage as part of the Firefly Life Cycle Project, a human care rearing program.

Global Hub for Conservation Efforts

Butterfly Pavilion is more than an invertebrate zoo, it is a global hub for invertebrate conservation, research, and education. Whether it is providing unique, hands-on learning experiences in exhibits and educational programs, entertaining guests with immersive and interactive events, conducting new invertebrate research that sets the standards for zoos across the country, or providing innovative solutions for species and habitat conservation around the world, Butterfly Pavilion is leading the movement to ensure invertebrates are protected for the future.

Beyond Colorado and the United States, Butterfly Pavilion conservationists are doing important invertebrate research projects around the world from Mongolia and Saudi Arabia to Peru and Indonesia. Closer to home, a new Butterfly Pavilion Baseline development will open in Broomfield, Colorado in 2025 setting the global standard for invertebrate science and conservation. The $55M, 81,000-square-foot facility will include greatly expanded guest experiences, world-class research labs and a much larger zoological facility.

Events such as Living Lights help support Butterfly Pavilion’s essential efforts to protect future invertebrate populations in Colorado and around the world.

Living Lights Admission

December 17, 2021 – January 2, 2022

6pm-10pm (Last Entry at 9:15pm)

Member Adults: $15, Children: $10, Seniors: $11.

Non-Member Adults $20, Children $12, Seniors $13

To learn more and purchase tickets, visit: https://butterflies.org/event/living-lights/

About Butterfly Pavilion

Founded in July 1995 and accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2014, Butterfly Pavilion is the first accredited, stand-alone, non-profit invertebrate zoo in the world, occupying a 30,000-square foot facility situated on an 11-acre campus provided by the City of Westminster, Colorado. Butterfly Pavilion’s mission is to foster an appreciation of butterflies and other invertebrates while educating the public about the need for conservation of threatened habitats in the tropics and around the world. Learn more at www.butterflies.org

Media Contact:

Jennifer Quermann

jquermann@butterflies.org

703-477-0668