Christmas traditions on safari

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Tennessee Safari Park near Alamo. During the Christmas season, the park transforms into a magical winter wonderland with over 2 million twinkling lights, festive displays, and holiday-themed entertainment. Visitors can enjoy a one-mile drive through a light show with interacting Christmas music on the radio. There’s also a Santa’s Workshop, petting zoo, drive-in movie theater, and full concessions.

“We added all of these lights and started opening for Christmas last year,” says Claude Conley, Jr., who, along with his brother, Jon, manages and operates the park. “Our Christmas Under the Stars addition has really taken off. We added this for families to have something to do together during the holidays. Everyone who visited last year said they loved it because there’s activities for all ages. We hope visitors will start making this a family tradition — to come out after their Thanksgiving dinner or whenever their family comes in for Christmas and enjoy it together.”

The Safari Park is a family-owned drive- and walk-through animal park that has grown from humble beginnings in the 1960s to become one of the largest and most popular attractions in the region. Started by the Conley family, the park now features over 3,000 animals of more than 150 different species, many of which are rare or exotic. The park offers unique experiences for visitors, including feeding animals from their cars, a drive-in movie theater, and opportunities to interact with species like kangaroos and giraffes.

“Our Safari Park is always open during the day to drive through,” says Claude. “You can get up-close-and-personal with the animals and purchase food in our gift shop to feed them from your car windows. Afterward, you can park and walk through the zoo. Back in 2021, we opened our drive-in movie theater and, on the weekend nights, we show current or classic movies. Now, we’re excited to offer Christmas Under the Stars for the second year. We have been gathering lights and finding Christmas items for our exhibits for the past five years to get everything ready for the big holiday season. We’re looking forward to another great Christmas at the park.”

The Tennessee Safari Park is open all year from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and visitors can drive through its 7.5 miles of roads housing four or five various safari sections filled with all types of animals from around the world. But during the Christmas season, the lights will come on at dusk (around 5 p.m.) and there will be one price to get in to drive through the lights (a separate area from the safari), then park and do the walk-through zoo, visit Santa’s Village, enjoy a petting zoo with Santa’s deer, and watch the drive-in Christmas movie of the night.

At Santa’s Village, there’s additional offerings that visitors can participate in for an additional fee, including professional photos with Santa, camel rides, and concessions. Last year, those having photos made with Santa were able to hold a baby kangaroo or wallaby in their lap. Claude says The Grinch comes after Christmas when Santa goes back to the North Pole and is happily there for photos (since Christmas is over) until New Years Day.

The Tennessee Safari Park is located on the Hillcrest Century Farm owned by the Conley family since 1958. Claude says his parents, Claude and Patsy Conley, started raising buffalo on the farm in 1963, forming the first privately owned bison herd in the state. Zebras were added in 1980, followed by various rare and endangered antelope. In 2007, Claude Sr. and his two sons, Claude and Jon, decided to open a park to showcase their rare and endangered species and invite others to visit their attraction.

The first year, they had about 2,500 visitors; by 2020, that number had grown to around 500,000.

Their animal collection is also growing. They started with about 350 animals and now there’s about 3,000. The park offers one of the largest collections of zoo animals in the United States.

The Conley brothers work together to manage and expand the park, drawing visitors from across the country and around the world to experience this one-of-a-kind attraction. They depend on United Farmers Cooperative in Alamo for various animal feeds throughout the park, as well as vaccines and dewormers. They keep a very close eye on their animals’ health, have a veterinarian that comes out several times a month, and serve as a conservation program with long-term commitment to species preservation.

The Tennessee Safari Park is open year-round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Gates close at 5 p.m. Regular admission prices to drive through the safari are $24 for adults, $16 for children 2-12, and free for children 1 and under. Feed cups are $3 each or four for $10.

Christmas Under the Stars is open from Wednesday before Thanksgiving through January 1. Admission prices are $16 for adults, $12 for children 2-12, and free for children 1 year old and under. Participants can get $2 off with military ID, senior citizen photo ID, or with the Cooperator ad.

The Tennessee Safari Park is located at 618 Conley Road, Alamo, Tennessee. For more information, call 731-696-4423 or visit their website at tennesseesafaripark.com.