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8 things you didn’t know about Zoobilation

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Zoobilation is the circle city’s largest black tie fundraiser.  The theme for the 2016 Zoobilation is ‘Keeping it Wild.’

While you may have already been familiar with those two facts, here are eight others you may not have known about the annual fundraiser.

1) Set up end-to-end, all of the restaurant booths, bars, stages and dens that make up Zoobilation stretch across nearly a mile of Zoo pathways.

2) Zoobilation guests will indulge in a combined total of more than 300,000 bite-sized food samples.

3) With six different performance areas and 10 live acts, music plays continuously on Zoo grounds throughout the six-and-a-half-hour event.

4) More than 90 public and private bars are available to serve drinks to Zoobilation patrons.

5) The second Friday of June is the only day each year when the Zoo opens its massive East gates, allowing guests direct access onto the White River State Park pedestrian bridge.

6) The participating restaurants donate ALL of their food and time to participate in Zoobilation.

7) Zoobilation provides the once-a-year opportunity for guests in formal attire to ride Indianapolis’ only roller coaster.

8) After Zoobilation ends, more than 130 staff and volunteers work overnight to prepare the Zoo’s grounds to reopen to the public Saturday morning.