zoo lights! is back

Houston Zoo announces shining return of favorite holiday lights event

Zoo Lights! is back.

Photo courtesy of Houston Zoo

As fall brings cooler temperatures, Houstonians are looking for any excuse to enjoy the outdoors. Just in time, a favorite local excursion has announced its return in time for the upcoming holiday season.

The Houston Zoo has announced the 2020 schedule for the popular Zoo Lights! For the uninitiated, the event offers guests the chance to stroll zoo grounds after dark, as the complex is illuminated by thousands of LED lights while the animals slumber.

This year’s Zoo Lights!, presented by TXU Energy, runs from November 14 to January 10, 2021, and will feature timed tickets to allow for proper social distancing, as well as increased cleaning and disinfecting to ensure a safe visit.

Guests can sip hot chocolate, interact with Candy the Zoo Lights zebra, get a selfie on a giant ice throne, and snap a socially distanced photo with Santa in his workshop. A 125-foot-long, Infinity Tunnel of Light, serves a shining experience. Meanwhile, dragons come to life in a 4-D Enchanted Forest, and attendees can lounge in a Winter Wonderland.

Other holiday-themed activities include a chance to make s’mores. Specialty experiences during the holiday run include member preview nights (November 10 and 11), Brew Lights presented by TXU Energy (November 12), VIP experience nights (November 28, December 19, and 26), and Sensory Friendly Night (December 7).

Visitors are also encouraged to bring used holiday lights to recycle at the zoo. Tickets are for 5:30–10:30 pm, with the last entry at 9:30 pm, and run $12.90-$29.95. Zoo members save $3 per ticket when logging in to their membership account to buy tickets; military, first responders, and educators are eligible for a $3 discount off admission.

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Kings of Comedy

Houston rap legend Willie D toasts 60th birthday with comedy roast

Photo by Spike the Designer

Willie D will celebrate his 60th birthday with a roast.

It appears that one of Houston’s rap legends saw Netflix’s Roast of Kevin Hart and decided to do one for himself — but funnier.

Willie D, from the pioneering Houston hip-hop group Geto Boys, is bringing the celebrity roast back to its roots with The Roast of Willie D: Cooked by Legends, going down at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre on Wednesday, October 28.

The rapper/media personality/community advocate, who will turn 60 on Sunday, November 1, will be using his birthday celebration to remind everyone that roasts are meant to be familial, funny, and ultimately a good time for everybody.

“What people forget is that roasts started at the barbershop, street corners, family gatherings, and are rooted in community, ” D said in a statement. “What we’re seeing today sometimes comes off as manufactured cruelty, and I’m not with that. Roasting should leave your audience laughing, not ready to fight.”

Comedian/Original King of Comedy D.L. Hughley will serve as roastmaster, with Cedric the Entertainer (another fellow King), Houston’s own Ali Siddiq, and other as-yet-announced special guests appearing on the dais, ready to roast the man of the hour. Live music is also scheduled, which means we may get some performances from Willie D himself. (Let’s hope he performs “Clean Up Man” so we can see this guy again.)

Willie D adds that he can’t think of a better way to celebrate a milestone most doubted he would reach. “All my life, people said I wouldn't live to be 18 years old, and I pinched myself every birthday,” he said. “Getting to 50 years old was great, but getting to 60 really, in my opinion, deserves a pat on the back.”

The one-night-only event will be recorded live for television, with tickets going on sale this Friday, August 21, at 10 am. (The artist presale tickets are this Wednesday, August 19, at the same time.) For more info, visit the Smart Financial Centre website.

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