The Great Christmas Light Fight

The Brewster family show their “Christmas in New York City” themed display, featuring a Herald Square stage with dancers inspired by The Rockettes and a massive tree in Brewerton, New York; the Chiles family show their “Miracle of a Million Lights” display covering outside and inside of an 1880s-era mansion with 60-foot-tall candy cane trees and a life-size snow globe in Portland, Oregon; the Sanda twins combine their sophisticated DIY skills to create a freeform lighting technique never before seen on the show, featuring handmade motorized controls that create the illusion of twinkling lights and a nativity scene starring a homemade animatronic Santa bearing gifts in Glendale, Arizona; and the Rose family show their holiday display covering every square inch of their house, featuring handmade gingerbread cutouts, an inflatable hugging bear and a garden area dedicated to the memory of their daughter in Hazlet, New Jersey. Judge Taniya Nayak makes the decision.

The Torres family show their pirate-themed Caribbean Christmas display, featuring a two-story handcrafted castle that covers the facade of their house, a life-sized pirate ship with cannons and a 35-foot mast in Henderson, Nevada; the Murphy family, with the help of their art class students, transform their house into Christmas art with over 400 precisely cut figurines, 75 extravagant scenes and a massive 25-year-old Cinderella castle in West Frankfort, Illinois; the Howard family show their incredible light show that incorporates a giant multicolored mega tree and a violin playing as if it’s floating in the air in Fillmore, California; and the Taylor family show their magical forest display spanning across three acres, including over 50 beautifully lit trees covered in 500,000 lights and a 90-foot tree with 23,000 lights brightening up the massive wonderland in Kennesaw, Georgia. Judge Carter Oosterhouse decides the winner.

The heavyweights division has the Bentley family with “Bentleyville,” a 22-acre decorated city park with 5 million lights, over 200 wireframes and the tallest man-made mega tree in the country in Duluth, Minnesota; the Winter family with “Cambria Christmas Market,” a Germany-meets-California display, filled with gift shops and food stalls, plus an enchanted forest spread over 25 acres in Cambria, California; the An family with “Magical Winter Lights,” combining the traditional American Christmas with the ancient Chinese light festival, made entirely of delicate, intricately designed Chinese lanterns in Houston, Texas; and Kenny Irwin with “Robolights,” an industrial Christmas land made out of robots built from recycled materials, including a candy cane palace, a tower of gifts, amusement park rides, a 10,000 watt robot sculpture, and a Santa ditching his sleigh for a spicy masala chuck wagon stagecoach in Palm Springs, California. Judge Taniya Nayak make the decision.

Displays include the Nagy family with their high-tech light show dedicated to their dog, and packed with a towering joy sign, a ballet of snowflakes on the roof, and an interactive talking snowman in Waterford Township, Michigan; the Nirschl family with their heartwarming Christmas display, dedicated to family and all the things they love, including inflatables, a magical archway, and a festive interior in Daytona Beach, Florida; the Maywald family with their magical display, featuring fireworks lighting up nostalgic scenes, over 300 blow molds, a vintage Christmas storeroom, and DIY favorites like a snowman built from tires in Austin, Texas; and the Banda family with their charming handmade Christmas town, "Northopolis," which includes a PVC pipe and cloth constructed lightweight mobile display that they reassemble every evening, and a bigger-than-life Santa, reindeer and wise men in Weslaco, Texas. Judge Carter Oosterhouse makes the decision.

The Miranda family show their pixel light show, 3D-printed parts, and 2 matrix displays with green-screen video effects in Edmond, Oklahoma; the DeGennaro family show a North Pole in the desert featuring 8 DIY reindeer, a candy river with homemade Gingerbread men on the outside and over 1,7000 decorations stacked from floor to ceiling on the inside in Las Vegas, Nevada; the Sowell family show their 15-acre farmland display with over 1 million lights creating a beach scene with Florida beach sand, a carnival scene with a Ferris wheel, an automated Santa kissing Mrs. Claus, and a nativity with live people, a camel, and zebras in Milton, Florida; and the Beltran family show their winter wonderland with over 40 mounted rooftop decorations, a vintage Nativity, wireframes, and blow molds in Moreno Valley, California. Judge Carter Oosterhouse makes the decision.

The Cottrell family show their display made by 89-year old Calvin Cottrell and his family featuring a tractor ride around 4 acres, a homemade barn for their Nativity, a Ferris wheel with bear blow molds, and a 47-year old Mega Tree in Rossville, Indiana; the Hudgins family show their character cutouts, elf houses with animated characters, hand-painted blow molds, and Gingerbread men in Mechanicsville, Virginia; the Rombeiro family show their 27-year family tradition, with reindeer that sway in the wind, a motorized Santa blow mold, a massive arch over the driveway, and an interior filled with themed rooms and a handmade train village in Novato, California; and the Jones family show their 47 oak trees with 400,000 lights, creating a massive light show with colored tree trunks, dancing arches, a Nativity, and the word "Joy" in 7-foot letters in Boerne, Texas. Judge Taniya Nayak makes the final decision.