"Gate prices are higher, and evenings may sell out." That's Zoo New England's own advice about ZooLights at Stone Zoo, and it's the best way into Stoneham's holiday season. Between Friday, November 27 and Sunday, November 29, Santa starts his visits at the zoo, Greater Boston Stage Company opens its holiday show on Main Street, and the Chamber lights the tree on the Town Common. Each one has its own ticket rules. Some reward booking early, one can't be booked at all, one saves its cheapest seats for a single afternoon, and one is free.
The Zoo Turns On a Week Early
ZooLights opens at Stone Zoo, 149 Pond Street, on Friday, November 20. It runs through January 3, from 4:00 to 9:30 p.m., with last entry at 8:30. It's closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. This year the zoo has turned Yukon Creek into a candy-themed winter display with a model train set, alongside the usual tree-lined paths of lights.
There's one evening before opening night. Jingle Beers, a 21+ tasting of beers and ciders from Massachusetts breweries, runs Thursday, November 19, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 for members and $45 for nonmembers, or $30 and $35 for designated drivers. Every ticket includes evening ZooLights admission. The zoo is setting up an open-air Holiday Pavilion with heating towers and fire pits. Each ticket comes with a warm signature cocktail, and s'mores kits are for sale. The last ticket is sold at 8:00 p.m.
ZooLights pricing is the reason to plan ahead. You pick a date and a time slot when you buy, and that slot is locked in. The ZooLights ticket page is blunt about it:
"All ticket sales are final and cannot be moved to other dates. Please make sure you're able to attend your reserved slot at time of purchase."
Tickets can be transferred, so if your plans change, someone else can use them. Everyone needs a ticket except children under two, and a ZooLights ticket doesn't cover daytime zoo admission. The 4-pack discount is sold online only, and all four people have to come in through the same entrance together. Massachusetts EBT and WIC cardholders pay $10 per ticket for up to four tickets.
Thanksgiving weekend is the clearest case. Groups of 20 or more can get a $12-per-person rate, but it doesn't apply on Saturdays or over Thanksgiving weekend. The zoo leaves that weekend out of its group discount, and gate tickets on any evening depend on what's left.
Friday, November 27: Two Openings, Two Opposite Rules
The Friday after Thanksgiving is when the rest of the season starts, and its two openings work in opposite ways.
At the zoo, Santa begins visits in the Animal Discovery Center. You can't book him ahead. Santa tickets are sold in person at the Animal Discovery Center door, first come, first served, and the zoo says there won't be any advance sales. A visit is $5 per guest age two and up, paid by credit, debit, or Apple Pay. Sessions last five minutes. You also need a ZooLights ticket, which you can buy online ahead of time or at the gate if any are left. There's no professional photographer, so bring your own phone or camera.
On Main Street, Greater Boston Stage Company opens It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, adapted by Joe Landry and directed by Tyler Rosati. It runs November 27 through December 20. The show is set on Christmas Eve 1946, when a group of actors in a Manhattan radio studio perform George Bailey's story using voices and music. The theater is at 395 Main Street.
The theater's best deal lasts one afternoon. On Frugal Friday, the code FRUGAL goes live at noon on November 27 and gets you $27 tickets to the first performance, up to four per person. It isn't a discount for the whole run. It's one price, for opening night, starting at a set time.
That makes Friday a day with fixed times. The theater code goes live at noon, ZooLights opens at 4:00, and Santa starts at 4:30.
The Weekend at a Glance
| Day | Event | Where | How you get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 27 | Santa visits begin, 4:30–8:30 p.m. | Stone Zoo, Animal Discovery Center | $5 on-site only, plus a ZooLights ticket |
| Fri, Nov 27 | It's a Wonderful Life opens | Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main St. | Code FRUGAL for $27 tickets, active at noon |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Santa visits continue | Stone Zoo | Same rules as Friday |
| Sat, Nov 28 | 7 p.m. performance | Greater Boston Stage Company | Code SAVVY for $45 premium-section seats |
| Sun, Nov 29 | 23rd Annual Tree Lighting, 3–5 p.m. | Stoneham Town Common | Free |
| Sun, Nov 29 | Santa visits continue | Stone Zoo | Same rules as Friday |
The theater's Savvy Saturdays code covers the 7 p.m. Saturday performance of every Mainstage show, up to four tickets per person, so it works for every Saturday of the run, not just Thanksgiving weekend. There's also the $27 for $27 program, which sets aside 27 tickets at $27 for every Mainstage production. Those are first come, first served, limited to two per person, and reserved only by calling the box office at 781-279-2200. Under Card to Culture, Massachusetts residents with an EBT card can get up to six $6 tickets at the box office.
Sunday on the Common Costs Nothing
The 23rd Annual Tree Lighting runs from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 29, on the Stoneham Town Common. The Stoneham Chamber puts it on with StonehamBank, the Stoneham Art Group, and the Town of Stoneham. There's music, caroling, holiday characters, and children's crafts, and the afternoon ends with the Common's tree being lit. Local business sponsors cover the cost, so there's no ticket.
The tree lighting ends at 5:00, and Santa is at the zoo until 8:30 that night. A family that wants both on Sunday needs a ZooLights slot booked for after 5:00, and a time slot you can't change is easier to pick once you know the tree lighting's schedule.
December Keeps the Same Rules
Once the weekend is over, the season settles into a routine, and the ticket rules don't change.
Santa comes back to the zoo on Fridays through Sundays, December 4–6, 11–13, and 18–20, and adds two weekday nights, Tuesday, December 22 and Wednesday, December 23. Those last two dates fall after the theater's final performance on December 20, so the week before Christmas is when the zoo has the season mostly to itself.
Hot Chocolate with the Reindeer is the zoo's most expensive add-on. It's a half-hour session, 3:30 to 4:00 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, on December 2–6, 9–13, and 16–23. Registration is $65 for members and $70 for nonmembers and includes ZooLights entry. It ends just before ZooLights opens at 4:00, so the price covers one session that runs straight into the evening.
The Middlesex Fells has its own big December date. The TARC Winter Classic is Saturday, December 5, with 8-, 32-, and 40-mile courses that start and finish on Fallon Road in Stoneham. The race is already sold out. If you usually walk in the Fells on Saturday mornings, expect a race to be running that day.
Here's how to buy, in short:
- Book your ZooLights slot online before Thanksgiving weekend, since those evenings may sell out at the gate and the group rate doesn't apply then.
- Bring a card or Apple Pay for Santa at the Animal Discovery Center door. There's no way to book him ahead.
- Be ready at noon on November 27 if you want the $27 opening-night seats at Greater Boston Stage Company.
- Show up on the Common on November 29 at 3:00. No ticket needed.
If you read our September piece on how the Common goes quiet before Stone Zoo takes over, Thanksgiving weekend works the other way around. The Common, the zoo, and Main Street are all busy at once, and what decides your weekend is when you buy each ticket. More on the town is on our Stoneham neighborhood page.
Whether to list before spring or wait until after is a timing question too. If you're weighing it as December comes, Jodi Fitzgerald can give you a straight read on timing and prep for a Stoneham home. Schedule a free consultation.
