Ultimate dinosaurs, turtles, sunken treasures coming to Fernbank in 2025

What will you find at Fernbank Museum in 2025? Thrilling special exhibits, giant screen films, themed Discovery Days, nighttime nature adventures, adult science nights and more fill the calendar!

New Giant Screen Film

Fernbank’s exciting new year brings the first of the new 2025 giant screen films to viewers with “Desert Elephants,” opening on Jan. 18. This film follows the story of a baby calf in a desert elephant herd on its journey of growth and learning across a land of extremes.

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Experience a mushroom choir, captivating illumination and nocturnal animals roaming the woods. Journey into the magnificent, sometimes hidden worlds of nature at Fernbank Museum’s newest exhibit, Wildwoods: AGLOW. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “Wildwoods: AGLOW (is) our new nighttime, multisensory experience that highlights native plants and animals, or iconic species that can be found here (in Georgia), maybe even some reclusive species that you may not get to see because they are nocturnal or they don’t like a lot of human activity,” Sarah Arnold told WSBTV.com’s Nelson Hicks. “So, (it features) all sorts of really fun things to explore and discover.” (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Now in its third year, WildWoods: AGLOW introduces a variety of new displays that promise to delight visitors. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “We have added some uplit, very artistically carved light tours over near the mushroom choir, we have added Luna moths and dragonflies that are also uplit down near the creek in Wildwoods,” shared Sarah Arnold of Fernbank Museum during an interview with WSB-TV’s Nelson Hicks. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “There’s a lot of new stuff to see.” (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Highlighting the complex, connected and sometimes-hidden stories that flourish in the surrounding forest, this innovative experience brings together the vast, natural environment with the latest innovations in immersive design and technology. Transformative illuminations, large-scale projections and original music compositions beckon guests into a nighttime wonderland of biodiversity. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Inspired by native flora and fauna – and unlike anything else in Atlanta – this multi-sensory experience reveals the wonder of nature through a range of glowing, interactive and panoramic scenes across five distinct zones. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “We are always exploring exciting ways to engage audiences with science and nature while tickling the imagination through innovative and fun programming,” said Fernbank president and CEO, Jennifer Grant Warner. “WildWoods: AGLOW is an exciting experience that will reveal nature’s magnificent wonders through beautiful, artistic and intentional uses of projection that enhance our understanding of the ecosystem that connects us all.” (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum As guests enter the experience, they first discover oversized seeds glowing with interactive light, signaling the origin of forest growth and inspiring a deeper connection with nature. Throughout the experience, guests will encounter nocturnal animals, forest projections and interactive lighting, integrated with the surrounding plants and woodland environment. Another zone features larger-than-life incandescent mushrooms that can respond to guest movement with a musical symphony of illuminated communication. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Developed in partnership with Thinkwell, a leading design and production agency creating immersive, content-driven experiences for brands and companies worldwide, “WildWoods: AGLOW” is the third endeavor between the two organizations, following the opening of the award-winning children’s exhibit NatureQuest in 2011 and the creation of a series of outdoor exhibits in WildWoods, which expanded Fernbank’s experiences into the outdoors in 2016. Thinkwell has also previously designed and opened outdoor, nighttime experiences, including Omega a la Nuit and Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “WildWoods: AGLOW” is a limited-run nighttime experience for visitors of all ages and abilities, offered on select evenings from now through late Feb. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum “This is an all ages experience,” Arnold said. “It’s wonderful for date night and wonderful for families.” (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum The final day to enjoy Wildwoods Aglow is Feb. 23, 2025. (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum (Nelson Hicks)

Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum Here are some more photos from Wildwoods: AGLOW at Fernbank Museum. (Nelson Hicks)

Special Exhibitions

Opening Feb. 8, “Ultimate Dinosaurs” invites audiences into the bizarre and fascinating world of dinosaur evolution in a new special exhibit that explores why the unique Southern Hemisphere dinosaurs are so different from their North American counterparts. Through an impressive blend of skeletal displays and augmented reality, guests will learn about the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea and how it altered the ancient world through life-sized dinosaur displays and genuine fossils that reveal some of the most important evolutionary discoveries of dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere, including South America, Africa and Madagascar, in recent history.

In early summer, Fernbank will welcome the special exhibit, “Turtles,” from June 7 – Sept. 1. This exhibit features live turtles from various climates and explores their unique anatomy, fascinating behaviors and the vital role they play in their ecosystems. Featuring content in both English and Spanish, and daily live animal presentations, this exhibit will give guests the opportunity to learn about these beloved reptiles as they experience hands-on activities that explore turtle habitats, diets, reproduction and conservation efforts to protect the species.

Set to open Oct. 4, “Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas” sets sail for Fernbank to embark on a thrilling voyage of underwater discovery and recovery. Focusing on the submerged landscapes found around the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, this unique exhibit explores underwater archaeology, shipwrecks, sunken treasures and more. “Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas” highlights underwater discoveries, including objects from naval ships, ceramic vessels, coins, jewelry and more. Complemented by stunning video technology that will transport visitors deep below the surface in each exhibit section, “Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas” is an immersive experience that combines visual record-keeping with ancient artifacts for a fascinating dive into history.

Outdoor Traveling Exhibits

This year, Fernbank highlights two outdoor exhibits to be featured in WildWoods, including “Spirit Guides: Fantastical Creatures,” on view from March 29 – Aug. 3, and “Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril,” on view from Aug. 9 – Nov. 2. Created by the workshop of Mexican artists Jacobo and María Ángeles, “Spirit Guides” is a collection of brightly colored and richly patterned sculptures that depict imaginary hybrid animals inspired by the Zapotec calendar, which is indigenous to Southern Mexico. These animals represent both spirit guides and astrological embodiments of the human character in a unique medium. “Extinct and Endangered” features 19 incredible but imperiled species through large-format photographs from the American Museum of Natural History. This exhibit highlights the importance of insects to ecosystems around the world, the risks they face as a result of human activities, and the important ongoing work around the globe to protect insect populations.

Discovery Days and After-Hours Events

There will be a variety of family-friendly “Discovery Days” throughout 2025, as well as newly added and returning nighttime events for adults and families. The first Discovery Day, “Dino Day,” will celebrate the opening of “Ultimate Dinosaurs” on Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Other Discovery Days include Little Critters Day, Reptile Day, Dinosaur Trick or Treat and more. For visitors who are 21 and older, Fernbank will continue to host its popular adult science night, “Fernbank After Dark,” which takes place on the second Friday of every month, kicking off the new year on Jan. 10. Other adults-only nights include the popular ‘90s Night event on Jan. 31, an Adult Prom on March 28 and Fright Night on Oct. 31. All-ages, nighttime hours are available during Fernbank...but Later on the last Friday of the month from May to August from 6 – 9 p.m.

Special Experiences

Fernbank’s illuminating, nighttime outdoor experience, “WildWoods: AGLOW,” will continue to invite patrons to journey into the magnificent, sometimes hidden worlds of nature through Feb. 23, with the fall season opening in November. Using captivating illumination, immersive projections and original musical compositions, “WildWoods: AGLOW” curates an innovative approach to storytelling that envelops visitors into the unique flora and fauna found in WildWoods. WildWoods: AGLOW also includes access to all three floors of Fernbank Museum and a giant screen film.

Additional special experiences and indoor and outdoor programming are set to be announced throughout 2025.

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