Santa Barbara Zoo Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Zoofari Ball

Celebrating 60 years of family fun with a special event for adults, the theme of the 2023 Santa Barbara Zoo’s annual soiree is Zoofari Ball: Sparkle and Shine.

Taking place on Saturday, August 26, the charitable event invites guests to a one-of-a-kind experience after dark at the park, while supporting the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural world and its living treasures including all the animals at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

Zoofari Ball will embrace nature’s natural sparkle and shine everywhere, along with encouraging partygoers to unleash their inner sparkle for the brilliance of the occasion. Guests will dance the night away on the Zoo’s hilltop with live music, while Rincon Events provides dinner for everyone under the stars.

A highlight of Zoofari Ball is the highly anticipated Travel Raffle, which offers the chance to win a six-night luxury vacation for two to Peru. The raffle is not limited to event guests; anyone 18 or older can participate. The tickets are $100 each and only 300 will be sold.

Rich Block, president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Zoo, said, “We could think of no better way to celebrate our 60th anniversary than a sparkling evening filled with our incredible friends of the Zoo.”

He continued, “Sparkle aside, the funds raised at Zoofari Ball help us continue to advance the Zoo’s mission and continue the critical work we do every day, and we are incredibly grateful for the generosity of so many sponsors and donors who make it all possible.” 

The Zoofari Ball Honorary Chair is George Leis, and the event is supported by a committee of local leaders. All guests must be 21 or older to attend the event, full details and tickets to Zoofari Ball: Sparkle and Shine can be found here. For more information on sponsoring the event, please contact Megan Nuss at mnuss@sbzoo.org or (805) 679-8442.