Oakland Zoo’s illuminating Glowfari brightens up the end of a dreary year

Two-year-old Avery squealed with delight as she stepped on a tile of an outdoor disco floor at Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari: A Wildly Illuminating Lantern Festival, which changed from white to blue, then purple, then red.  

Toddlers, preteens and adults alike amused themselves hopping and dancing on the board game-like light-up path — which called to mind the sidewalk in Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” video — while, appropriately enough, The Weeknd’s ’80s-influenced “Blinding Lights” chimed and pulsed in the background. Nearby, kids crammed into circular swings that emitted a softer glow and changed colors like giant plastic mood rings.