Detroit, MI
Detroit Zoo’s Wild Lights holiday display ranked in USA Today’s 10 Best Zoo Lights
Detroit Zoo Wild Lights 2024
Wild Lights runs through Jan. 5 at the Detroit Zoo and includes over 5 million LED lights in festive design arrangements.
One of metro Detroit’s most beloved holiday season attractions is now nationally famous.
On Friday, the Detroit Zoo’s Wild Lights was ranked by the voting public as #9 on USA Today’s list of America’s 10 Best Zoo Lights.
“We just found out this week,” said Zoo senior director of guest experience Emily O’Hara, “and we were thrilled to know that, while our metro Detroit audience knows Wild Lights and has loved it for over a decade now, we’re seeing it on the national stage now.”
Wild Lights includes over 5 million LED lights in festive design arrangements perfect for visitors of any age looking to get in the seasonal spirit. Between 120,000 and 140,000 holiday revelers tour through the exhibition annually, and to date this year, more than 20,000 have already enjoyed the festivities.
The entire undertaking is handled by a team of just 13 Zoo staff.
“We usually start the last week of July, and we install until opening, which is the week before Thanksgiving,” said O’Hara. “We start uninstalling the day after we close in January, and we’re usually uninstalling into the beginning of April.
Along with the return of Santa Claus for photo ops, this year adds new elements such as glow swings and a glow teeter-totters in the glow play area. Also, an enchanted trail with an interactive sound and light wall is new this year.
“We try to add more and more interactive components each year,” O’Hara said, “because we really see guests gravitating to those area. In addition, we have tons of photo ops, like a giant teddy bear. We have a holiday train. We also have a plan that you can climb into and get your photo taken, alongside all of our animal sculptures; being the Detroit Zoo, we really want to emphasize connecting guests to animals as they’re thinking about their holiday season, as well.
“And the footprint for Wild Lights changes every year, so even if you’ve visited Wild Lights in the past, it’s going to be a new experience this year. We encourage past visitors to come back.”
For those hesitant about venturing out into the cold, O’Hara offered reassurance.
“I know folks are coming across winter as a surprise,” she said. “The cold settling into our bones – we’re never ready for it after summer warmth, but I do want to reassure folks that as they’re coming through Wild Lights, we have warming stations. We have the lodge, which is a cool place to hang out, with live music and hot chocolate. Also, in our Ford Education Center, you can see a showing of ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ in 4D, and we have an art exhibition going on in there where you can thaw out and look at photography mostly from Africa.”
Most of all, O’Hara said, the Zoo is grateful to its fans who boosted it into USA Today’s top ten.
“We want to say thank you,” she said. “We really pride ourselves on our relationship with the community and what we’re able to bring to this region, and we are so thankful that the community has rallied around us to show that again on the national stage. Detroit is here, and we have amazing, wonderful things to offer. We’re so excited to be a part of this area.”
Wild Lights runs through Jan. 5 at the Detroit Zoo, 8450 W. Ten Mile Rd., Royal Oak. Tickets and information are available at detroitzoo.org/wild-lights. General admission packages range from $17 to $25, based on the time and day of visit. Guests can take their visit to the next level by purchasing additional ticket packages, including the Picnic Package, which includes an endless food buffet and exclusive access to Table 28.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
Pistons vs Magic Game 1 reaction, lessons learned and what must change
Omari Sankofa II, Shawn Windsor and special guest Bryce Simon react to Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 NBA playoff loss to Orlando Magic, April 19, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena.
How in the world did things get so bad so fast for the Detroit Pistons?
In just one outing in the 2026 NBA playoffs, they went from top-seeded darlings of the Eastern Conference to punching bags punked by an 8-seed short on rest but long on resilience and toughness.
“I would say they ‘outphysical-ed’ us today,” Pistons wing Ausar Thompson said after the Orlando Magic stole Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series, 112-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, April 19. “One, because they got more rebounds than us. They forced more turnovers.”
Yes, this was always going to be a physical series. Though you would think the Pistons, owners of the NBA’s second-best defense and playing at home, would have a sizable advantage.
It also should have helped them that they were coming off six days’ rest, as opposed to the Magic coming off winning a play-in game just 47 hours earlier.
It didn’t help that Pistons star Cade Cunnigham was playing in just his fourth game since suffering a collapsed lung and missing 11 games. He scored a game-high 39 points, but he didn’t operate as smoothly as usual, with just four assists (far off his 9.9-assist season average) while committing three turnovers.
Another indictment of the Pistons’ worrisome play: Tobias Harris (19 points) was Cunningham’s only teammate who scored in double digits. Meanwhile, all five Magic staters did so, led by Paolo Banchero’s 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
And just like that, the Magic came out firing, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and never trailing.
“Yeah, just that we came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said. “Gave them life further on. And then, you know, we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but can’t dig a hole like that.”
He’s right. The Pistons can’t dig a hole like that in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Because if they do, and they lose, the Magic would not only have homecourt advantage – they got that with Sunday’s victory – but could close out the series without another win in Detroit, with three of the next four games coming in Orlando.
That’s precisely what makes Game 2 a must-win game for the Pistons. It’s bad enough they lost the opener at LCA, where they were 31-9. But now they’ve let the Magic set a hard-edged tone in the kind of the game that could lead them to steal the series.
“I know that they feel great about this game,” Cunningham said. “This was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in the playoff series.
“So I’m sure that they feel great about that. Obviously, we’re sick about losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team. They know us. So it’ll be a long, fun series.”
Cunningham might be right, because the Pistons are arguably the better team. They have enough talent and more depth.
What the Pistons don’t have is the advantage of desperation. They had an excellent season from start to finish, closed with a 60-22 record, and wrapped up the East’s top seed on April 4.
The Magic, meanwhile, have been playing with fire (and not always the good kind) down the stretch, while their fifth-year coach, Jamahl Mosley, entered the postseason on the hottest of hot seats after his squad went 0-7 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
To make things even worse, the Magic lost the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics – well, their reserves, at least – to blow their chance at the 7-seed and homecourt in the play-in tournament. Then Orlando lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (on the road, of course) in the first play-in game before beating the Charlotte Hornets (in Orlando) to advance to a best-of-seven series – featuring four road games – vs. the Pistons.
Now, it looks like the Magic have found their form, as they routed the Hornets, 121-90, and stunned the Pistons. And just like that, Mosley went from hot seat to just plain hot.
Banchero wouldn’t go so far as to say the victory set up his team to steal the series, but he didn’t deny it was exactly the kind of start Orlando needed.
“It’s just a good win for us as a team getting it on the road against a great team and 1-seed,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we got to come back Wednesday, you know, reciprocate it, you know?
“They’re not going to lay down. They’re going to turn it up. So we’ve got to be ready for that. And it’s just one-game-at-a-time mentality, you know? That’s what it’s got to be. It’s the first of four.”
Yes, it’s just the first of four wins the Magic needs to advance. If the Pistons don’t find an answer quickly, the math – and hardly anyone else – won’t be on their side when they head to Central Florida this weekend.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.
Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:
The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.
When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.
OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.
The Pistons have made recent moves to add more shooting, but still don’t have anyone quite as lethal as former Detroit guard Luke Kennard. On Saturday night, Kennard had a brilliant start to his postseason with 27 uber-efficient points for the Lakers in a win against the Rockets. His level of 3-point accuracy is something the Pistons have desperately been seeking all season long to bolster their offense.
Luke Kennard’s shooting makes him a dangerous playoff performer
Kennard was originally drafted to Detroit with the 17th pick of the 2017 Draft. The Pistons have plenty of draft regrets from that general era of team history, but picking Kennard has never been one of them. Despite any other weaknesses he may have, his strength as a shooter has always been enough to offset them.
In terms of pure 3-point percentage, Kennard is one of the best shooters in NBA history. He averages 44% behind the arc for his career, and shot a blistering 48% this season – the best mark in the league. Given his incredible track record, it’s not exactly a shocker to see him shoot 5-of-5 from three en route to 27 points in Game 1.
Not only is Kennard obviously an excellent standstill shooter, but he’s also a master of getting himself open with his movement. On Saturday night, he was able to play off LeBron James perfectly for a few easy looks. After that, he caught enough of a rhythm to create 3-point looks for himself, even in transition.
A player like Kennard is easily capable of turning an entire playoff game when he gets hot. In a close series, that one game where Kennard hits several threes can be all the difference his team needs to advance. If the Lakers do manage to win this series, even without Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves, Kennard’s shooting will be a major reason why.
The Pistons could use someone like Kennard
Kennard would be a perfect marginal addition for the Pistons that only makes them better without taking anything away from the team. To be fair, the Pistons do have two shooters who have been hot recently in Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter. But having more than one respected shooter on the court at a time is often necessary to maintain a solid offense in today’s NBA.
Given the Pistons’ current lack of shooting, any additional shooters are welcome. And Kennard is understandably one of the most feared shooters in the league, capable of bending defenses just by the threat of him taking a three. Rolling him out on the Pistons would surely open up more lanes for Detroit’s stars to attack the paint and score easier points.
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