The Lincoln Children’s Zoo has canceled the first 10 days of its second-annual Zoo Lights display, originally scheduled to start late next week.
But it had hoped not to.
The zoo was forced to delay the event — which illuminates its train, trees and pathways with hundreds of thousands of holiday lights — until at least early next month to comply with updated Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department measures announced Friday.
The zoo had submitted plans to the Health Department, which had been approved, zoo spokeswoman Sarah Wood said Tuesday.
And when the directed health measures changed, the zoo worked with the department, proposing a modified operating plan that would allow 25 guests every 15 minutes for its daily operations, she said.
“The daily operations plan was approved, but the Zoo Lights event was not. This was not a voluntary cancellation.â€
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The health department’s revised health measures, which took effect Monday, remain in place until Dec. 7. The department will reevaluate the event after that, Wood said.
“We are hopeful that the event will continue at that time.â€
The display was scheduled to end Dec. 30.
Earlier this month, Wood said crews had been busy since August installing this year’s display, which would cover about 20% more ground than last year’s debut. It also announced a series of steps to protect people from COVID-19, including mask requirements, one-way traffic, staggered entry times and occupancy and group-size limits.
On its Facebook page, the zoo said it would issue refunds in the next two weeks, and was suspending future ticket sales until further notice.