Events

Guests aged 60 and above enjoy reduced admission of $9 plus tax!

Kick off the morning with coffee, donuts, and an insightful educational session led by our Director of Conservation. As the afternoon unfolds, savor coffee, cookies, and indulge in a delightful array of games like checkers and cards.

Join us at Great Plains Zoo for a day filled with delightful egg hunts, egg-themed facts and fun, animals, story times, photo ops, and endless fun for the whole family!

We're cleaning up the Big Sioux River, in conjunction with the city-wide cleanup! Choose to clean up at the Butterfly House & Aquarium (BHA) or Great Plains Zoo (GPZ) and help make a positive impact on our environment.

Come spread your wings and dive into an evening of delicious snacks, fun games, and magical performances at Butterfly House & Aquarium!

One of the many flagship animals of Great Plains Zoo (GPZ), the black rhino is critically endangered, with only approximately 3,000 mature adults left in the wild.

Join us at GPZ to help continue to raise awareness of this important species!

Get ready to leap into summer on May 25 at Great Plains Zoo!

Join us for World Ocean Day at the Butterfly House & Aquarium and Great Plains Zoo!

Butterfly House & Aquarium Campus
Bring your thinking cap and participate in our Creature Cards Scavenger Hunt by exploring the campus and collecting 11 different creature cards hidden throughout the building.

Once you've completed the hunt, stop by the Conservation Alley to let your creativity flow with World Ocean Day coloring sheets! Want to color outside the lines? You can create your very own ocean animal art using holographic stickers!

And finally, if you need a place to relax, we'll have Octonauts playing in the Discovery Den all day long!

10:30 am - Ray & Shark Dock Talk
2:30 pm - Coral Exhibit Expert Chat

Great Plains Zoo Campus:
Join us for special Penguin Keeper Chats! Time TBD.

Join us for a week of celebrating our pollinators!

Each day will feature education stations and a new pollinator activity!

As the grand finale to pollinator week, be sure to join us on Saturday, June 22 for Flutterfest at Great Plains Zoo!

Join us at Great Plains Zoo (GPZ) for this event (cost included in admission) to learn a little more about the conservation program for the Dakota skipper butterfly and how YOU can help save pollinators in the wild!

Stay tuned, more information is coming soon!

Come one, come all... to Zippity Zoo Day!

Get ready to celebrate the "little guys" that play a BIG role in our ecosystem at Bugapalooza!

Stay tuned, 2024 event details coming soon!

Dive into the spirit of Autumn at our Falling for Animals event on September 21 from 10 am - 2 pm at Great Plains Zoo!

Stay tuned, 2024 event details coming soon!

Get ready for a hauntingly good time as we transform our aquatic world into a Halloween wonderland!

It’s a new Sioux Falls holiday weekend tradition! The Creative Creatures art show, curated by Untitled.10, brings the work of local artists out of the gallery and into the Great Plains Zoo!

Join us 10 am - 2 pm on Saturday, December 7 at Great Plains Zoo (GPZ)

Make your way to Butterfly House & Aquarium to kick up that holiday cheer on Saturday, December 14!