"We have an Asian New Year celebration every year, because usually it's an animal, and usually it's an animal we have here," Beardsley's Tracy Benham told Daily Voice. "If not, we try to improvise. We have a lot of fun. Obviously this year because of the cold we didn't get as many visitors, but we had quite a few families come out.
"We always feature the animal, and this year is the year is the monkey," she added. "We also talk about cultural things, have storytelling, try to keep with the cultural aspect of the day. It's also a way to let people know the zoo is open during the winter. ...
"It's a fun mid winter thing. We appreciate the families who came out in the cold, and we have great volunteers who helped with all of it, so it's a fun day."
The Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport — the only zoo in Connecticut and one of the top tourist attractions in Fairfield County — is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Adult admission is $14, and children and senior admission is $11. For more information, visit its website.
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