For the second year in a row Peterborough, Ont., resident Jordan Downer has created an epic light show at his Hawley Street home.
“This year I had to go bigger and better,” said Downer. “So we have doubled the lights and added a few more fun features to the show.”
That means nearly 10,000 lights and countless hours of work went into the display, but that’s not all – the lights are programmed to flash along to classic Christmas hits.
Downer said he has always enjoyed Christmas and is a big fan of the holiday classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, now some are calling him Peterborough’s own Clark Griswold.
“I actually took some time off work at the beginning of November to hang everything and that took about a week,” he said. “But I have been doing planning and wiring lights together and computer programming (since) June.
“So back in the summer when everyone was enjoying the hot weather, I was already thinking Christmas.”
The whole thing works kind of like a drive-in for Christmas lights: pull up to the home, tune your radio station to 88.3 FM and enjoy the production.
The show runs every half hour from 5:30-9:30 p.m. and, this year includes some Christmas comedy courtesy of a giant illuminated tree named Chris Mas-tree.
Downer first tackled the project last year, when he had a bit more time on his hands during the pandemic. Fast forward to 2021, he said he wanted to keep the tradition going to add some holiday cheer to another tough year.
“You can really hear not only the music, but the kids laughing and enjoying the jokes so it’s a great feeling,” said Downer.
The show is free but Downer is collecting non-perishable food items, toys and cash donations for the Salvation Army.
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