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Dublin Zoo Story Competition

Closing Date: Friday November 15 2019

Dublin Zoo Story Competition
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The Irish Independent and Dublin Zoo are giving young budding writers the chance to win an amazing prize of family tickets to Wild Lights, annual passes to Dublin Zoo and a goodie bag.

Calling all Parents/Guardians - all you have to do is enter on behalf of your child by sending in their story or nursery rhyme, no more than 200 words, to tie in with this year’s Wild Lights theme – Stories, Myths and Legends.

This year there will be magical scenes from well-known stories like 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘The Jungle Book’…to best-loved nursery rhymes and characters from Irish Mythology – all brought to life by dazzling, giant colourful silk lanterns! Nursery rhymes and bedtime stories include 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Frog Price', 'Little Bo Peep', 'Hey Diddle Diddle' and 'The Owl and the Pussycat' – so something for all ages!

Entry Details:

There are two age categories open for entries: 

  • Age 6-9
  • Age 10-13

All you have to do is send in an original story or nursery rhyme on behalf of your child. The entry should be no more than 200 words in length. To submit your entry complete the entry form below.

You can also submit an entry by post, simply complete the entry form printed in the Irish Independent and post it along with your child's story or nursery rhyme to Dublin Zoo Story Competition, PO Box 11, Independent House, 27-32 Talbot St., Dublin 1. Closing date for receipt of entries is November 15, 2019.

Each category winner will receive a family pass to Wild Lights, an annual family pass to Dublin Zoo and a goodie bag.

There will also be 4 runners up prizes – two per age category who will receive a family pass to Wild Lights and a family day pass to Dublin Zoo.

Good luck!

Terms & Conditions

By entering this competition, you are agreeing to these terms and conditions and consent to your data being managed in accordance with our Privacy Statement.


Prize Specific Terms and Conditions
1. The competition is the Dublin Zoo at Wild Lights Short Story Competition.
2. There are six prizes available. These are provided by Dublin Zoo. The Wild Lights family pass equates to two adults and two children (15 years and under). The Dublin Zoo day pass equates to two adults and two children (15 years and under). The annual pass is a family annual pass.
3. The competition opens on 26th October and closes on 15th November 2019 at midnight.
4. You can enter by completing this form or by completing the entry form printed in Irish Independent and post to Dublin Zoo Short Story competition, PO Box 11, Independent House, 27-32 Talbot St., Dublin 1.
5. Each winner will be contacted by INM by 25/11/19.
6. Winner’s details will be passed to Dublin Zoo who will make direct contact. INM & Dublin Zoo are Data Controllers in their own right for the chosen winners.

General Terms and Conditions

  1. Promoter & Data Controller: Independent News and Media Public Limited Company, 27-32 Talbot St, Dublin 1 (“INM”).  INM Events will provide the prize to the winner.
  2. By entering, all eligible entrants agree to abide by each and all these terms and conditions.  The entry form will be part of the overall terms and conditions. Misrepresentative or fraudulent entries will invalidate an entry.  Where a competition involves a voting process: offering or receiving any incentive for voting is not permitted and will invalidate the vote, and may disqualify the recipient of the vote.  INM reserves the right, with or without cause, to exclude entrants and withhold prizes for violating any of these terms and conditions.  INM reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions.  Any amendments will be published on the website.
  3. Promotion is for parents to nominate their children's work in the following age categories: age 6-9 or age 10-13.
  4. Each entrant can enter an email address once only.
  5. Use of a false email, name or address by an entrant will disqualify them from receiving any prize.
  6. If you subscribe to an email newsletter, please note you can unsubscribe at anytime by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email newsletter.
  7. The competition winning entries will be selected by an INM judging panel. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence or communication will be entered into. Parents/Legal guardians of the winning entries will be contacted by email, telephone or post.
  8. In the case of conflict between these rules and such specific directions/terms and conditions, these rules shall prevail.  By participating in this competition, you are deemed to accept these rules and the specific directions/terms and conditions applicable to the individual prizes, as specified above.
  9. Failure to claim a prize within 7 days will make any claim invalid.  Prizes not claimed within the specified time limit will be deemed to have been forfeited and may be disposed of by INM without any liability to the winner.  
  10. No responsibility is accepted for entries damaged, lost or mislaid and proof of posting will not be accepted as proof of delivery.  No entries will be accepted by agents, in bulk or from third parties.
  11. Winners will be notified within 20 days of the relevant closing date by email, phone or post.
  12. INM will endeavour to deliver prizes within 14 days of winning. Where this is not possible the winner will be notified of the delay.
  13. Any additional costs and expenses incurred by the prize winner are to be the responsibility of the prize winner.
  14. Unless otherwise stated, all taxes, insurances, fees and surcharges are to be the sole responsibility of the prize winner.
  15. The determination and decision of INM on all matters shall be final and no competition correspondence will be entered into. INM reserve the right in their reasonable discretion: (a) to disqualify any claimant, competitor or nominee whose conduct is contrary to the spirit of the rules or the intention of the promotion and to declare as void any or all of their claims or entries based on such conduct; (b) to declare as void any claims or entries resulting from any printing, production and/or distribution errors (including but not limited to any error(s) in the magazine, this website, and/or other printed materials, or where there has been error(s) in any aspect of the preparation for or conduct of the promotion materially affecting the result of the promotion or the number of claimants or the value of claims; (c) to add to or to waive any rules on reasonable notice; and/or (d) to cancel the promotion or any part of it at any stage in the event of circumstances beyond INM’s reasonable control.
  16. Prizes are non-transferable and may not be re-sold  If a prize is unavailable due to circumstances out of INM’s control, INM will take all reasonable steps to substitute the prize with a suitable alternative.  No cash alternative will be awarded in lieu of stated prize(s).
  17. INM accepts no responsibility for the supply, non-supply, purported non-supply or delay in supply of prizes to be provided by a third party including, without limitation, failure of the prize winner to receive ownership of the prize.  Prize winners are responsible for booking and/or completing other formalities directly with the specified third party.
  18. The promotion may also be declared void should a printing or production error in connection with the competition appear in the magazine or on this website.
  19. Entrants acknowledge and accept that publicity may be given to competition winners and winners’ names and images may be published on Independent.ie website, social media channels and other website(s) relating to the promotion. If a Winner’s parent or legal guardian object to co-operate fully for publicity purposes if so required, please contact the INM Data Protection Team at data.protection@inmplc.com (stating the name of the competition in your correspondence).
  20. All entrants agree not to engage in any interviews or make any statements in connection with or arising from the competition without the written consent of INM.
  21. INM reserves the right to publish entries (including parts of entries) other than the winning entry and publication does not necessarily mean the entrant has won a prize.
  22. All competition entrants can opt-in to marketing materials or newsletters by ticking the appropriate box(es) on the entry form.
  23. INM will not be liable for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind or lost or unavailable network connections that may limit or prohibit an eligible entrant’s ability to participate in the competition.  Other than death or personal injury arising from the acts or omissions of INM or its employees, INM will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of the winner’s (or their guest’s) enjoyment of the prize.
  24. INM reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend a competition and/or vary competition rules at any time without prior notice.
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