Chicagoans seeking a break from the winter cold and looking to visit some of the new residents at the Shedd Aquarium — including sea otter pups, a beluga whale calf and penguin chicks — can do so for free on select days in 2020.
On Wednesday, the aquarium announced the 2020 schedule of free days for Illinois residents, and it includes several days over the next two months and many more throughout the year.
This year’s free days are:
- Jan. 16-20
- Monday-Friday for all of February
- June 15, 16, 22 and 23
- Aug. 24 and 25
- Sept. 8, 9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30
- Oct. 5-7
That admission includes access to aquatic presentations of the aquarium’s white-sided dolphins and beluga whales, daily animal chats and “Underwater Beauty,” a special exhibit of angelfish. Admission can also be upgraded to include a 4-D experience for $4.95 per ticket or a VR experience for $9 per ticket.
The 4-D experience lets visitors feel as if they are swimming with sharks, and the VR experience simulates swimming with a humpback whale and her calf off the Islands of Tonga, according to the aquarium’s website.
The Shedd will be closed for routine maintenance and cleaning Jan. 14 and 15, but Illinois residents will receive free, all-inclusive admission immediately following the closure from Jan. 16-20.
Many of the free days also include extended evening hours. The Shedd will be open until 9 p.m. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 20, Feb. 17 and Oct. 6. Specific operating hours for each day can be found on the aquarium’s website at sheddaquarium.org.
Two Magellanic penguins hatched at the aquarium in May, two sea otter pups were rescued and brought to aquarium in July and a beluga whale calf was born in July.
