Christmas Light Parades

I love Christmas lights. When my daughter still lived at home, several evenings during the Christmas season we would drive around different neighborhoods near our townhouse to see the amazing spectacle that some people would put together. Because we lived in a townhouse community, we were limited by space and bylaws as to what we were allowed to hang. We could jazz up our little patio and porch columns, put something in our windows and around the garage opening, but that’s about it. We needed to get out to see the real deal.

One year we stumbled on this huge house in the country. The family inside had decked out every square inch of their abode as well as their yard, driveway, and all of the trees we could see. Not only that, but the lights were coordinated to blink and change color to music blasting from some serious speakers nearby. People came from hither and yon to see the spectacle and we found ourselves in a road-parade for a solid 30 minutes. Later we found out that this house has been decorated since 2006, won the Grand Prize on The Great Christmas Light Fight in 2013, and has been featured in several magazines, publications, and on TV shows.¹

Since the demise of indoor malls in our area, I’ve started to see drive-thru synchronized Christmas light and music shows popping up in their parking lots. The first time I saw one of these I thought it was an amazing use of space. I also wondered what it would take to coordinate a spectacle of this nature.

I tried for weeks to contact the owner/operator of the empty mall near me to use for an event once so I know how challenging it can be to find the right person with the authority to give you permission to be on the property. I went back and forth, calling all over creation, and ended up back at the mall with the security manager. For a drive-thru light show, however, I’m sure there’s more needed than just an ok from this guy. I bet there are inspections and permits required by the city especially for noise, crowd and traffic control, and security.

As with any large-scale, holiday event, you’d have to plan well in advance of the Christmas season so you could secure equipment, not only for the lights and structures but the audio/visual equipment and staff as well. With all of the additional church services, concerts, and celebrations during this time of year, those book up quickly. An architect or a designer with an eye for the experience would need to be hired to create the route while keeping in mind speed, timing, space for waiting cars, and the turning radius of the largest SUV. The event team would need to discuss the most appropriate times and days to be open, how long the attraction should be, and how much to charge for admission. Then, I’m sure all of this needs to be submitted for approval.

Depending on the complexity of the attraction, staffing needs could be extensive. Aside from the event planning team, people are needed to check tickets, direct traffic, set things up, tear things down, act as security, monitor the lighting, audio, and video equipment, and there should be a dedicated person on hand to make sure the electricity or generators are functioning properly and switch out malfunctioning Christmas light displays. Then there are tasks such as answering emails and social media questions, paying bills and payroll, and sending stakeholder updates that need to be done as well.

Afterwards, there will need to be a teardown plan. What was rented needs to be returned and what was purchased needs to be stored. People and trucks need to be secured to ensure this is a smooth process. If this same display is to be reset, then numbering and labeling different components will be critical to making next year’s setup efficient. Then, the event planning team should evaluate the success of the event against its goals and objectives, determine if it’s to be repeated, where to have it, and what changes need to be made to improve the experience for next year.

A good friend of mine once said, “An event, is an event, is an event. The concepts of event planning may not change but the details certainly do.”² I imagine the details of this event would include a lot of twinkling lights, shiny ornaments, and the need to break out my sequined jacket again.

Have you planned a similar type of Christmas light show? What do we need to know? Tell us here or send me an email!

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1.Brian Larsen. Epic Light Shows. 2018. Epic Light Shows, LLC. https://www.epiclightshows.com/about.html#:~:text=BRIAN%20LARSEN%3A&text=Started%20his%20first%20Christmas%20light%20show%20production%20on%20his%20home%20in%202006.&text=2013%20Was%20featured%20on%20the,of%20Great%20Christmas%20Light%20fight.
2. Joanne Dennison, CMP. https://www.themeetguide.com/