SeaWorld Builds a Tunnel of 5,000 Lights for Mardi Gras Weekends
Five weekends of jazz, jesters, gumbo and a fire dance — plus a tunnel of five thousand lights. All of it included with park admission, no extra ticket.
Overview
SeaWorld's Mardi Gras runs on select dates from January 23 to February 21, 2027.
It's included with park admission — there's no separate event ticket.
It's also the most underrated thing SeaWorld does. Christmas gets the attention and Halloween gets the marketing, but Mardi Gras lands in the dead stretch of late January when there is almost nothing else on in San Diego, and it's a genuinely good five weekends of programming.
Both the opening and closing dates fall on weekends — January 23, 2027 is a Saturday and February 21 is a Sunday — which fits the Saturdays-and-Sundays pattern the event has followed. In past years SeaWorld has added a Friday and a Monday around Fat Tuesday. Whether they do that in 2027 isn't published yet.
Worth knowing: Fat Tuesday 2027 falls on February 9, which is inside the run. If SeaWorld opens for it, that's the date to watch for.
What Happens
Based on how SeaWorld has run this event in recent years:
The Royal Mardi Gras Parade — floats, a jazz band, singers, dancers and jesters.
The Tunnel of Lights — over 5,000 lights. This is the one that photographs, and the one small children remember.
A nightly fire dance at Wild Arctic Plaza, with a live DJ.
Ukulele Jesters, stilt-walkers, and magic shows by a performer billed as The Mystic.
Performances and family activities at SkyTower Lawn.
The Food, Which Is the Real Draw
SeaWorld builds four themed stands plus bars for this, and the menu is more committed than theme-park food usually is.
Bayou Bites, at SkyTower — Muffuletta, Fried Green Tomato Po Boy, Fried Shrimp Po Boy, Kings Bundt Cake
Cajun Creations — Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Jambalaya, Dirty Rice, Pecan Pralines
Creole Cravings — Cajun Mac and Cheese, Crawfish Cajun Chips, Oyster Rockefeller Bread, Bread Pudding
Big Easy Eats — Crawfish Roll, Crab Cakes, Beignets with Coffee Mousse, Masquerade Beignets, Chicory Coffee
And the bars — Abita Purple Haze Raspberry Lager, a Hurricane, Green Apple Frozen Margarita, Bourbon Street Smash, Blackberry Mule, Strawberry Daiquiri, and a French 75 at the Mimosa Bar near the front of the park.
A muffuletta, a proper gumbo and beignets with chicory coffee is a real New Orleans menu. Whether it's any good is a separate question, but somebody put thought into the list.
No prices are published for any of it — not one item on the entire food menu carries a figure. Budget accordingly.
What Isn't Published Yet
Being straight with you: SeaWorld has announced the 2027 dates and essentially nothing else.
- No operating hours for the event
- No specific dates within the range beyond "select dates"
- No confirmation of whether Fridays or Fat Tuesday are included
- No food or drink prices
- No sampler or lanyard pricing. SeaWorld has a dedicated "event sampler" page for Mardi Gras and it is currently empty — no tiers, no sample counts, nothing. Pass members are told there's "a special sampler offer" in the member portal, with no figure
- "Parade Reserved Seating" appears as a label on their page twice with no price, no booking method and no capacity. If reserved parade seating matters to you, that's a phone call
Their dedicated Mardi Gras page is currently still showing last season's content, so check back in December or January for the 2027 detail.
How to Go
- When: select dates, January 23 to February 21, 2027
- Where: SeaWorld San Diego, Mission Bay
- Admission: included with park admission — no separate event ticket
- Parking: reserved tiers at $77 VIP · $55 Up-Close · $35 General. A standard drive-up rate isn't published
Good to Know
- It's weekends. Both end dates fall on a weekend and that's been the pattern.
- Fat Tuesday 2027 is February 9, inside the run. Watch for a special opening.
- Included with admission — if you're going to SeaWorld anyway in late January, this is free programming.
- No food prices are published. Not one.
- The Tunnel of Lights is the photo.
- Check the dates again in January. Only the range is published now.
- Reserved parade seating exists but has no published price. Call if it matters.
Why It's Worth It
Because late January in San Diego is a dead zone, and this isn't.
The holiday events are packed away by the first week of the month, spring is two months off, and the county's events calendar thins out to almost nothing. Five weekends of a parade, a fire dance, a lit tunnel and a plate of gumbo is a genuinely good answer to that.
And the economics are the best of any SeaWorld event. Halloween and Christmas both run in peak season when the park is busy and tickets are dear. This one runs when it's quiet — so you get a full event programme, shorter queues for everything else in the park, and no surcharge.
If you have an annual pass, this is the single best use of it in the calendar.
One note for planning: SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration ends January 3 and Mardi Gras starts January 23. There's a three-week gap, so they don't overlap.
For more things worth doing, browse our events calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is SeaWorld Mardi Gras 2027? Select dates from January 23 to February 21, 2027. Specific operating dates within that range haven't been published yet.
Is it every day? No — it runs on select dates, and both the opening and closing dates fall on a weekend, consistent with the Saturdays-and-Sundays pattern the event has followed.
Is Fat Tuesday included? Fat Tuesday 2027 is February 9, which falls inside the run. Whether SeaWorld opens for it isn't published yet. In past years they've added a Friday and a Monday around it.
Do I need a separate ticket? No. Mardi Gras is included with park admission.
What happens at it? A Royal Mardi Gras Parade with floats, a jazz band, singers, dancers and jesters; a Tunnel of Lights with over 5,000 lights; a nightly fire dance and DJ at Wild Arctic Plaza; ukulele jesters, stilt-walkers and magic shows; plus performances at SkyTower Lawn.
What's the food like? Four themed stands covering muffuletta, po boys, gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice, crawfish, crab cakes, beignets with chicory coffee, and king cake, plus bars serving Hurricanes, a French 75 and more. No prices are published for any of it.
What time does it run? No event hours are published. Check the park's daily schedule closer to the date.
Is there reserved parade seating? The label appears on SeaWorld's page but with no price, no booking method and no capacity. Call the park if it matters to you.
Is it suitable for children? SeaWorld's own FAQ describes the event as appropriate for children, though no age guidance is published. The Tunnel of Lights and the parade are the obvious draws for younger visitors.
How much is parking? Reserved tiers are $77 VIP, $55 Up-Close and $35 General. A standard drive-up rate isn't published.
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