Huge Kentucky Lantern Festival Is Back at the Louisville Zoo [VIDEO]

Not that they need it, but I'm going to take a moment to bestow praise on the nation's zoos.

I'm a huge fan and an even bigger one of the expense. It's not much. Zoos never are back-breaking in terms of what you pay to get in. Inexpensive entertainment and lots of it.

I've visited zoos in Nashville, Evansville, Cleveland, and Louisville, with the latter being my favorite. You don't have to twist my arm to get me there. And the Louisville Zoo doesn't ever have to embellish its environment to make me a happy guest.

But they do it anyway and, honestly, when they do, there are your staycation plans, right there, if you need 'em.

Get our free mobile app

Case in point...here comes the lantern festival.

It's not enough that it's a day of "lions and tigers and bears...and gorillas and lemurs and rhinos, oh my." Now you can add lanterns to the mix.

The Wild Lights Lantern Festival has returned and runs through the end of May, giving you plenty of time to enjoy a unique experience at one of Kentucky's premier attractions.

Bring a mask and enjoy more than 50,000 LED lights placed inside beautiful hand-made silk lanterns. And this year, there are more lanterns than ever before.

On a 1.4 mile-long walking path, patrons will enjoy a wide variety of designs and mini-attractions, like a T-Rex (if you can call a T-Rex "mini.") There are also beautiful ocean scenes featuring a variety of aquatic wildlife, peacocks, serpents, and even a glowing lion.

If you've never visited the Louisville Zoo, you are in for a real treat. You would be anyway, but Wild Lights just kicks it up a notch.

[SOURCE: WLWT-Cincinnati]