Palm Beach Zoo kicks off Rhythm in the Wild nighttime series

The Palm Beach Zoo is launching a new evening event series called ‘Rhythm in the Wild’.
These events will feature live music, conservation talks, and unique animal viewing opportunities.
The separately ticketed series runs on select nights from February through April.

A trip to the Palm Beach Zoo is evolving. In the coming months, the zoo will no longer be only a place for daytime excursions with the kids, but also a destination that fuses live music rare animal moments and conservation storytelling into magical evenings.

The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society has dubbed this series of events ‘Rhythm in the Wild’ and they will kick off Friday, Feb. 13 and run through April 25 with 33 nights of live music. Most of these special evenings are slated for Fridays and Saturdays, while several others will coincide with holidays or other important dates like spring break.

The events will take advantage of late winter’s lengthening days and spring sunsets. Palm Beach Zoo chief marketing and technology officer Amanda Joiner said ““Rhythm in the Wild allows us to show the zoo in a completely different light. It’s a place where music, atmosphere and conservation intersect.”

Standing apart from (or in addition to) a regular day at the zoo, these events are separately ticketed and will run from 5:30 to 9 p.m., with each month highlighting a specific animal at the zoo.

Focused on big cat conservation, February will be jaguar month, March will be the Florida panther and April will be for Malaysian tigers.

Each month’s shows will highlight the zoo’s conservation efforts for the featured animals and any changes to their exhibitions.

Rhythm of the Zoo offers a perfect blend of beauty, entertainment and education.

“As guests come, they can enjoy the live music, but there’s really important messaging that we’ll do. We get to talk directly about those conservation projects, which is not something we always get to talk about in person,” said zoo communications manager Visshaael Patel.

The evening hours have more to offer than just ambience. Animal behavior changes with the time of day, Patel said. “We want people to experience the animal activity in the evening a little bit more. To experience what the zoo is like in the spring.”

“We wanted to engage our community more, especially culturally,” Patel said, noting the area’s growing music and art scene. “We wanted to be a part of that.”

At the same time, Patel said, this is an opportunity to remind the community of the zoo’s work.

“We are a non-profit… sometimes people forget that, so any purchase or visit to the zoo is a direct help to everything we do.” This includes the zoo’s coral research, monitoring for the Florida panther and all of their conservation efforts.

The bands will perform on stage at the fountain and splash pad area at the center of the zoo. “The splash pad is nice because it’s central and ‘bushed off’ by all the trees… there’s kind of a barrier,” Patel said.

In addition to live music, sunsets and conservations talks, Rhythm in the Wild will offer guests themed beverages and food items.

Similar to Zoo Lights the zoo will close at its regular time, which is 5 p.m. and then after a 30-minute reset, will reopen at 5:30 for Rhythm in the Wild.

Rhythm in the Wild at Palm Beach Zoo

Where: 1301 Summit Blvd, West Palm Beach

When: select nights from Friday, Feb. 13 through April 25

Cost: Adults $19.95, children $17.95; day+night combo tickets: adults $47.90, children $37.90 (valid on separate days)

Information: palmbeachzoo.org

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

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