The Environmental Learning Center opened its 64-acre campus to visitors for a nighttime walk on the wild side, complete with bonfires, hikes, canoe tours, hands-on arts and crafts, touch tank experiences and sunset pontoon boat rides, all enhanced by thousands of holiday lights and luminaries to illuminate the way. The annual WinterGreen Night Lights Festival was expanded to three nights this year due to the enormous popularity of the event.

Entering the Visitors Center, guests were treated to a “Recycled Plastics – Mixed Media” art show created by Vero Beach Art Club members that featured artwork created from recycled plastics.

“Plastic is free, and there is an endless supply,” explained artist Leigh Bennett. “Working with plastic is a tedious task, because it is three-dimensional and requires cutting, painting, gluing and piecing together an art form. But the end result is pleasing and it keeps the plastic out of the landfill and away from the wildlife.”

Bells were ringing thanks to 10 members of the First United Methodist Church Hand Bell Choir, who entertained visitors and put everyone in the holiday mood.

Outside, many followed the path to the Children’s Nature Playscape, weaving through the twig trail and walking through a stand of life-size bamboo wind chimes making their own music. Visitors could also hold imaginary tea parties in the fairy garden, or roast S’mores while swapping stories around a roaring bonfire.

Others ran to the Discovery Station and Touch Tank Experience, where they could hold starfish and sea urchins and learn about the marine life living in our diverse Indian River Lagoon. In the room next door, youngsters enjoyed making their own greeting cards and ornaments, diving into a pile of Florida ‘snow’ constructed from recycled newspaper, and tossing snowballs of recycled plastic.

The more adventurous types were treated to a unique nighttime hike through the mangrove forest, with no artificial lights at all. Walking in darkness and silence, explorers listened intently for the soft sounds of nature and kept their eyes peeled for the elusive bioluminescent beetle that lives in mud burrows beneath the mangroves. As if on cue, a few of the lady beetles showed off their distinctive green glow, to the delight of the hikers.

“The girls glow to attract a mate,” whispered naturalist guide Sara Piotter. “Since there are three or four of them flashing right in this area, there must be a male nearby and the competition is fierce. Lucky for us, we get to see the show.”

While hundreds enjoyed the family activities on land, others were happily exploring nature on the water. The sunset pontoon boat tours sold out quickly as did the canoe excursions, where paddlers had the added pleasure of gliding through mangrove tunnels lined with holiday lights.

While the WinterGreen Night Lights Festival happens only once a year, the Environmental Learning Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, and regularly hosts events, boat tours, hikes, lectures and classes, connecting people with nature and empowering them to become active stewards of the environment.

For more information, visit www.discoverelc.org.