Thursday, June 28, Historic Carousel Celebration and Evening Zoo, until 8:30 p.m.
Remarks by Linda and Tom Allen and relighting of the carousel: 6:30 p.m.
Free carousel rides: 6:30–8:30 p.m.

This summer, Woodland Park Zoo will celebrate a very special birthday: Its Historic Carousel, which has been at the zoo since 2006, turns 100! The zoo will commemorate this centennial with a celebration on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m., during Woodland Park Zoo’s Evening Zoo event, which features ambassador animal presentations and animal keeper talks.

The celebration will take place on the North Meadow and will include a short program including a relighting of the carousel, guest speakers to talk about the carousel's history, a complimentary dessert for the first 500 guests and "carouselfie" opportunities with a carousel horse. Free rides on the carousel will be offered throughout the evening starting at 6:30. Guests are encouraged to tag pics with #WPZcarousel100 and #woodlandparkzoo to share their memories and celebrate the 100th birthday of the carousel!

The Historic Carousel was purchased and generously donated to the zoo by Linda and Tom Allen and the Alleniana Foundation and opened in 2006 at the zoo. Their gift offers zoo-goers the means to experience a celebrated piece of American history and provides support for the zoo's quality animal care and education programs. The carousel, which was first constructed in 1918 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and was the 45th of its kind, had previously operated at the Cincinnati Zoo and the Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara, Calif.

Woodland Park Zoo has provided around 7,500 free carousel rides per year to ensure that the carousel remains available to all. In addition, the zoo partners with 600+ human service organizations across Puget Sound to offer hundreds of thousands of complimentary zoo passes through its Community Access Program. Starting this year, a free carousel ride is included with every Community Access Program admission ticket. To further promote accessibility, the zoo has created the Carousel Centennial Access Endowment Fund to help ensure that the zoo’s extraordinary experiences remain affordable and inclusive for all children in the zoo’s shared community for centuries to come.

The Historic Carousel features hand-carved horses and two chariots. In 2011, solar panels were installed on the carousel’s roof to produce the 9,000 annual kilowatt-hours required to power the carousel. The carousel completes an average of 100,000 rides per year for zoo guests of all ages.