Wild Fall is Denver Zoo’s seasonal autumn overlay—designed to reframe familiar exhibit pathways as immersive, story-driven environments after dark.

For this program, we created two distinct but complementary experiences: Enchanted Hollows, a mythic nighttime forest walk rooted in Halloween lore, and Bigfoot Festival, a live, character-led cryptozoology celebration staged within Harmony Hill. Both required narrative-forward sound design where audio carried story, pacing, and emotional tone.

Enchanted Hollows

The main attraction of Enchanted Hollows is Woodland Hollow, an eerie twilight forest trail where guests move scene by scene through a world where autumn folklore begins to feel real.

Woodland Hollow

Woodland Hollow is an atmospheric nighttime experience (recommended for ages 8+) that gives life to Halloween stories and folklore—an immersive forest trail surrounded by sculptural jack-o’-lanterns, glowing spirits, and characters drawn from myth.

Our role encompassed full sound design, audio content creation, equipment integration, and DSP/show control programming.

The story draws from Celtic mythology and the origins of Samhain—the seasonal threshold when light yields to darkness and spirits are believed to cross into our world. Guests begin at a pumpkin patch hosted by Steely Jack, a trickster figure whose carved jack-o’-lanterns are said to ward off spirits.

From the first scene, sound establishes narrative scale. Jack’s voice is intentionally disproportionate—though physically present, it seems to emanate from everywhere at once. A melodic Celtic-inspired theme underscores the encounter, grounding the mythology before dissolving into environmental tension.

As visitors move deeper into the forest, the soundscape becomes more disorienting—ravens calling from above, will-o’-the-wisps hopping between stumps, whispers of Pukahs in the canopy, and possums overhead gently beckoning guests away from danger.

Guests soon encounter Gwyn the warlock. His riddles are reinforced so that his voice feels both present and omnipresent—slightly detached from his physical body. Then exaggerated sounds of snake hisses emanate from a painted ouroboros symbol, triggering Gwyn’s fear of snakes and redirecting guests forward.

Spatialization was essential. Voices were intentionally “larger than life,” appearing to emanate from everywhere at once. Speakers were concealed inside carved pumpkins, raven sculptures, scarecrows, tree canopies, and bridge elements.

Directional horse hooves in the final scene expanded into full-surround gallops as the Headless Horseman appears in silhouette, golden firelight flickers and animal guardian calls echo from large carved pumpkins positioned on the bridge. When guests cross, the original melodic theme returns, closing the narrative loop and delivering emotional release.

Beyond the forest trail itself, Enchanted Hollows expanded into a broader activation footprint that blended atmosphere, interactivity, and live animal encounters. Seasonal food and beverage offerings, Halloween weekend trick-or-treat stations, and ambassador presentations featuring owls, possums, tarantulas, and snakes extended the narrative. We created a playlist overlay for the Conservation Carousel that fit the mood of the event. One of the signature interactive elements was Ruru the Owl, a large-scale Great Horned Owl sculpture crafted from repurposed thatching, recycled water tanks, and reclaimed drop wood from a local mill. Guests were invited to engage directly—triggering head turns, wing flaps, and glowing blinking eyes. Audio reinforced the activation, giving Ruru presence and personality within the environment.

Bigfoot Festival

If Enchanted Hollows leans into myth, Bigfoot Festival embraces playful legend.

Hosted within Harmony Hill, the event is framed around Jack Taylor Jr.—a delightfully overzealous president of the Society for Unexplained Phenomenon—who presides over Harmony Hill’s annual Bigfoot Festival. The evening features calling contests, hairy chest competitions, Bigfoot-themed karaoke, specialty food and beverages, and keeper talks with “Bigfoot-inspired” species such as grizzly bears and gorillas.

The evening begins with an 80s-inspired “radio broadcast” atmosphere: rock and folk tracks interspersed with parody commercials for Bigfoot-themed products, before the Master of Ceremonies bursts onstage to open the festival.

Throughout the event, sound supports both comedy and suspense. Microphone reinforcement ensures the events remain intelligible and energetic. Transitional music keeps momentum high between segments.

Midway through the evening, narrative tension escalates. Jack receives an alert from his fictional “Foots Finder” app, signaling increased Bigfoot activity. Subtle rustling sounds and distant movement cues begin behind the berm of the grizzly habitat.

The climax unfolds with staged “Bigfoot sightings.” Hidden speakers positioned along the berm emit directional brush movement and low vocalizations. Wireless lighting instruments highlight silhouette reveals at carefully timed moments. The creature appears, retreats, and reappears—eventually becoming comfortable enough to pose for photos.

Technically, one of the greatest challenges was show control within infrastructure constraints. With limited Wi-Fi and high cybersecurity standards, we established a secure, hidden ad-hoc wireless network dedicated solely to production control. From this system, the stage manager could control Harmony Hill’s Q-SYS core, QLab playback cues and music transitions, and wireless lighting cues—ensuring synchronized execution without exposing the zoo’s broader network.

Bigfoot Festival required a different emotional character than Enchanted Hollows, but the same principle applied: sound defines the experience. It shapes expectation, directs attention, and gives fictional characters emotional weight.

Denver Zoo - Wild Fall (Enchanted Hollows, Bigfoot Festival)

Client:
Denver Zoo