Touring neighborhoods to admire Christmas lights is a cherished holiday ritual, but behind these stunning displays are dedicated Australians who invest both significant time and money each year to create these festive experiences.

Andrew Walters is one such individual, having spent over $30,000 during the past 21 years on an array of lights and decorations to transform his Adelaide residence into a Christmas spectacle.

His home is adorned with an impressive 250,000 lights, covering nearly every surface.

Each year, Walters begins crafting a new design for his home in July and starts the elaborate setup in September, aiming for a grand reveal in December.

For Walters, the effort is rewarding, as it draws thousands of visitors and generates substantial funds for charity.

“A lot of busyness around this time of year, you can lose sight of Christmas. These sorts of things can help bring back the spirit of Christmas,” he said.

”It’s really good to give people in the area the memories, but also my family those memories as well.”

In Perth, Charmaine Van Vliet roped her entire street into participating in Christmas displays after wanting to outdo a nearby street.

She estimates each house has spent anywhere from $1000 to $5000 on decorations.

Van Vliet creates and builds a lot of her decorations and helps her neighbours put their lights up all during the summer heat, which can exceed 40 degrees in Perth.

She also organises a mailbox where children can leave letters to Santa that she replies to, a bubble and snow machine and an elf who plays basketball with the children.

“Parents have trouble getting their kids to go home,” she said. 

Van Vliet’s street has won the local council’s best decorated street competition for four of the last five years.

They donate the entire $1000 prize money to several charities.

“A lot of people do it tough during the year financially, and if in December, we can just bring a bit of free joy and entertainment and relief for people, that’s good enough for us,” she said.

Scott Church is new to the game after his partner had the spontaneous idea to create a Christmas display last year, but they have already spent more than $6000 to fill their front yard with lights and decorations.

He has also spent hours of his time creating his own decorations. 

Church said he was surprised to find that creating the display would bring him as much joy as it has.

“It’s just amazing,” he said. 

He has received offers for donations to help fund the project, but said that was not what he was doing it for.

“I’d rather the community just come to my house, get a candy cane, have a sweet, enjoy my lights and talk about it with their family,” he said.

“That’s what gets me: just the enjoyment and the excitement that it brings to people.”