There’s nothing like a strand of Christmas lights to let us know that the holiday season is here. The custom of putting lights on a Christmas tree dates back to the 18th century in Germany. It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that it became common to put lights on buildings as well. Since this tradition has become so popular it may not seem like a big deal when you see a house or building decorated with a few lights, but could you imagine seeing one decorated with over a million of them? Check out our list of some of the best places to see Christmas lights. One of these places recently made the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest Christmas light display in the world.
In The U.S.:
Tacky Lights Tour, Richmond, Virginia
The lights in Richmond aren’t really tacky, but there are a lot of them. Residents of the city try to outdo their neighbors with the most outrageous, brightest bulbs that they can find. There’s even an official “tacky map” that viewers can use to find all of the participants. To make the coveted map, the house or business has to have at least 40,000 lights on display.
Lights Under Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
This is perhaps the world’s only Christmas light’s display that’s underground. This manmade cave features around 1 million lights. Viewers can drive through this 100 acre cave that is located under Interstate 264. I wonder where they plug in all of these lights!
Oglebay Festival of Lights, Wheeling, West Virginia
This is one of the largest light shows in the country. The Oglebay Festival of Lights covers over 300 hundred acres. In order to see it all, viewers have to drive through the 6 mile display. This festival started almost 30 years ago with only 125 acres of lights.
100 Miles of Lights, Virginia
This light display is so massive that it spans through 7 cities: Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg. In addition to the lights, there are numerous festivals and parades as well as boat shows that feature boats decked out with hundreds of lights.
Outside of the U.S.
Canberra Light Show, Canberra, Australia
We’ve saved the best for last. Recently, lawyer David Richards set a world record by putting up around 1.2 million Christmas lights. He wrapped three giant Christmas gifts in 75 miles of lights. The massive, lighted gifts are on display at a mall in downtown Canberra. Last year, Richards set a Guinness World Record at his home for having the most amount of Christmas lights on a residential property: 502,165 Christmas light bulbs. This man certainly does love Christmas lights!
Do you plan on having a massive Christmas lights display at your home? We like to keep things simple with a few lights strung up on the house and a reindeer or two in the yard. If you have a large Christmas light display, be sure to let us know!
