Experience the festive magic as neighbours on Second Street in Sydney come together for their 23rd annual Christmas lights switch-on. Join the excitement of preparations, from new decorations to musical performances and the heartwarming community spirit. Watch as houses transform into dazzling displays, capturing the essence of an Australian Christmas. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the efforts, creativity, and joy that go into creating one of the most spectacular Christmas streets in the country.
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Embark on a festive adventure with Matthew Hayden as he explores Australia’s unique Christmas traditions. Discover the country’s most breathtaking Christmas lights, from innovative street displays to dazzling setups featuring computer-controlled lights and synchronised music. Join Matthew in helping a community achieve its dream of hosting an unforgettable Christmas lights showcase. From cutting-edge technology to charming fire and smoke effects, witness the creativity and brilliance that Australians bring to their holiday celebrations. Illuminate your Christmas spirit with the most spectacular displays across the land!
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Aussies turn Christmas on its head Santa suits in summer cold ones around the Christmas tree and forget about snow we’ve got glow [Applause] [Music] Christmas lights [Music] [Applause] like no one else on Earth yeah the thing I do have an addiction to lights I’d say definitely yes over the years it has
Become an obsession if there’s a Christmas shop around Jan’s got to go visit him I just spend money like it’s going out of stock not that I’m I’m a rich person or anything [Music] we buy millions of them this year we’re about 85 000 likes it’s got about 20 000 lights we
Put them up all over Australia I like Christmas might bring my Christmas freak in this particular bus is probably about 300 lives we go high tech This One controls mega tree old school I think for five of London’s Father Christmas and the Christmas tree really and everything in between
Pretty we just about covered every spot we can cover within the house [Music] I’d rate our obsession with lights check out our best and brightest hello mystical and we’ll follow one of Australia’s most loved Christmas streets as they count down to their biggest ever light spectacular two two one [Applause] [Music]
An Aussie Christmas when we’re not hitting the beach or stoking up the Barbie Weaver your way in our front yard stringing up the world’s best light shows it’s become a national Obsession growing bigger every year foreign [Music] than on this street in Sydney
For 48 weeks of the year it looks just like any other Aussie neighborhood four weeks over Christmas a miracle half a Second Street happy Christmas didn’t you have lights throughout the garden last year I think you had lights
Amongst all the flowers I specifically bought my house on this street because I wanted to be part of the Christmas light when it came up for sale I just thought wow I’ve been visiting Christmas
Light streets for 10 years and and I would love to be in a stream to do it which is probably a bit weird but that’s that’s how I felt a couple sets I lost the check check these up the hallway
Hey I first found out about Christmas lights on on our first date it was a different conversation that you’d have any on your first date more than 60 families light up their homes to create the
Biggest and brightest Street in Australia I was born in the strait so I’m like 83 at the moment or the Christmas displays they’ve been getting done for quite a number of years hello Rose and oh how are you you’re so cute Laurie the mystery Santa goes and puts little pieces of paper in
Everybody’s letter boxes and says put your lights on on this time or I’ll be around going crook Laurie McGinty’s mum and dad started the tradition nearly a quarter of a century ago Dad and Mum love the idea of sharing Christmas with more people and share that joy and fun
Now Laurie and neighbor Brian sharick take the tradition very seriously I’ve lived here 23 years and I’ve been mowing lawns about that long with uh with L’Oreal actually sometimes he’s dead they work together to get the streets verges looking trimmed
Summer it’s almost every week especially with the lead up at Christmas and the good thing is if it doesn’t look good it’ll look good a week later that’s true that’s true if we cut it too short yeah bit like a haircut yeah and people appreciate they come and say thank you
And you know it’s about being enabling helping people out and that’s that’s what it’s about this year’s second Street’s going all out to be the biggest and best in the country so we need to look at what decorations and lights we’re going to do this year so his last year’s plan
Brian and his new Mrs Jen have big plans for this year we might even be able to possibly put some lights down there and have the merry Christmas sign there with our Christmas lights our style
Will be the simple but elegant and pretty you don’t need to cover every corner of the house in lights to make it have that aspect and feel about it it’s about people looking at what we do here
And enjoying what we do so if we hang something there as you said that’ll match go well with us on Second Street you need to have a darn good excuse not to get into Christmas lights even if you’ve just moved in this it was funny when we were signing the lease for
The house the real estate agent actually asked us if we’re aware about the Christmas lights and I wasn’t quite sure what she meant at the time this will be Megan Lawrence’s first Second Street Christmas the main competition will be with the neighbors and competing with them
You know they’ve had several years to buy lots of Lights she’s determined to make a good impression I did go to art school so I do get quite inspired by the idea of putting on a
Display at the front of the house so I’ve been thinking a lot about how we could do that in a creative way and I often find myself in the shower thinking about the lights and what I’m going to do and I suddenly realize that it is consuming me a little bit yeah put
On the right yeah down up Second Street might still be drawing up their Christmas light plans but in Canberra one Christmas fan is already supercharged crazy fill green go around to the arbor I’ll get the purple out and we run the purple room
It started off with just saying going down the chimney and then a set of lights and then another set of lights and then it escalated out of control and that’s where we’ve got all the stuff that we have today and that’s why they call me crazy Phil with all my lights
Tin has been going bananas about lights for 15 years every year they’ve been getting bigger and bigger [Music] on the roof the display is made up of a two meter long sleigh with Santa Claus in it there’s all the reindeers they’re all fiber optic a snowman there’s every toy hopefully
You can imagine is will be in the front yard plus the whole yard’s covered in snow Phil’s a bricky he can build anything so he does we have three meter high candy canes all our bushes are covered in multi lights mousse greens whites Blues so it’s pretty spectacular
We think this year we’ve only got 85 000 lights we’d have to do a double check on that but it definitely is 85 000. I’ve never used before they’re brand new over the years I’ve usually
Spent four to five thousand but this year I think I’ve kept it back to just over three thousand at first bill just wired it all together plugging everything in hoping for the best and then one
Year we had a fire in the roof well that was it from then on I went professional I only got electricians in I’ve got no power your box is off but I’ll just switch it on okay
Excellent thank you we now have 12 power boards each power board has 30 plugs in it and half of them then got their own switches on them Phil he doesn’t know what he’s doing he thinks he knows
What he’s doing but every year yeah we just keep going so what makes Phil so mad about Christmas well I’m born on Christmas Day and I always remember going to shop fronts looking at just Christmas displays that’s why when you walk into my yard you’ll see all the toys all the trains
We have lots of toys every toy and everything you can think of we have I think I do have an addiction to lights and a Christmas spirit addiction I don’t know Phil’s power bill used to Skyrocket over Christmas to 400 a month
My electricity bill used to be the highest in Canberra now I’ve gone solar trust me it’s the way to go the money he saved goes to the Eden Monaro cancer support group [Music] it’s switch on night and thousands of camberons queue up to wander through Phil’s Wonderland [Applause] It’s been getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year and honestly the work the guys have done has just been amazing [Music] my favorite part is Santa falling down the chimney [Music] [Applause] the people that come through and look at our lights the word we keep hearing is wow you can’t
Count how many Wows you’re here every year it just keeps getting better better the best light display as far as I’m concerned is mine I’ll never give it up not while the kids are enjoying it so much foreign [Music] there’s plenty more light Madness to come [Music]
I think I’ve spent at least seven thousand Christmas decorations if you don’t go on holidays anymore yes you can’t see it from the air if you have planes coming over all the time and on Second Street how do you create a winter wonderland
At 30 degrees get a bit of that snow and just try it on the Camellia now [Music] in the weeks before Christmas Aussies put on their biggest show of the year a quarter of a million front yards light up with true blue Aussie genius [Music]
And one of the longest running Traditions is here on Second Street in Sydney where the whole street is gearing up for its biggest switch on ever from day one of light up when you walk out to your street you see all your neighbors lit up
You feel pretty sad if you don’t have your own setup we wouldn’t be allowed not to do one we’d have to do one or we’ll have the kids chasing us no the grandkids love taking part in it [Music]
Brian sharick is one of the many Christmas lights addicts busy working to bring Second Street alive it’s about just making your house look nice and we then promoted that to other people because everyone just loves the spirit of Christmas Brian reckons he’ll need at least 200 strands
Of LEDs to make an impact so this is the hardest part these days getting the tingles out of the wiring if you’re thinking 200 strands is a bit over the top that’s not the half of it all working excellent that’s what we want to see see this year Brian has a willing helper
His new wife Jen what’s your planning hon well I’m determined to get my Christmas tree in the garden honey yep Jen married into the mother of all Christmas clubs and she’s determined to make
Her mark a lot of the neighbors have been here for a very very long time and I’m sort of a newcomer so it was one way of me being involved with the with the neighborhood and being part of it keeping
Up with the Joneses won’t be easy big shopping list honey yeah all good big budget big shopping list when neighbor Deb Lowe found her new husband Mal she laid down The rules I actually said look I
Can’t go out with anyone that’s not into Christmas you know this is a really important part of my life she’s sorting through her prize decorations and so this is always the fun part of you when
I find things that I haven’t seen all year and I put them out I don’t know why but I’m just super crazy about this type of decoration snowmans are some of my favorites Deb has collected over 100
Exotic baubles from every corner of the world it’s a bit like a treasure chest of of memories and dreams each year has got bigger and better basically I started off slow and then as the
Years go by you know you add to your collection oh I just love the fact that they’re all so shiny and bright the detail is really good soon Dev will be on the hunt for new ways to feed her Christmas
Habit she can’t resist the new Temptation shipped in every year from factories in Asia she’s not alone we Aussies book out more than 20 million dollars in Christmas lights each year and four times that on our other Christmas decorations oh my gosh
Look at it in here you can spend a whole day in a Christmas Warehouse like this oh my gosh which is just what Brian and Jen plan to do that’s my tree yeah look at that that’s the
Tree I want for the garden that’ll go perfectly in our garden that’s identical to the one you’ve got on The Veranda it is with the presents it’ll be perfect yeah just the bigger versions that’s all first item so you’re actually looking for new things that people don’t have yeah
What’s the kind that’s exactly right come on show me show me yeah let’s have a look gents decided Brian’s lights need a serious review the shopping is one of my favorite parts of the whole Christmas light process of like a little kid in a candy store merry Christmas everybody you
Notice that the men are actually trailing you here yes I noticed that there is a very good it’s all about me and what I’m gonna buy I thought I love Christmas shopping but Jen I have rights to buy
Whatever I like for Christmas lights do I have a budget to spend no but I you know I use discretion um but I do you know I want to make our place look lovely and so I spend as much as appropriate every year new gimmicks roll out of the Christmas factories
Bobbing head reindeer so last year trains from the North Pole bah humbug now this looks really interesting and I have to rewrite under his no you don’t necessarily fantastic there’s just so much out there the shop is definitely dangerous what makes me excited
Is something different Jen wants a modern look to overhaul Brian’s traditional theme new wife New Life okay I think we’ve found my dream mum purchase these two lamps I wanted lovely and just um you know help with these stars as well so
Yeah exactly right they are in the garden so that would be perfect what do you think buddy no I like it look good yeah so what’s the price of a lap around Santa’s playground price is 404.65 lovely thank you is it that not bad for the first shopping trip of the season
Really well yeah my girls have grown up and moved on but they still like coming back home to see the Christmas lights this Aussie Street relies on everyone going all out to get the visitors the boys are inside fixing up little bits and pieces while we’re out here decorating they
Keep looking for new ways to wow the crowds and bring Christmas cheer and true Aussie fashion Lawrence over the road encourages us all to do it and be on time yeah the bells will be right up in the in the pitch and the snowflake will be
Dripping underneath it but some years are more successful than others ask Mal and Deb [Laughter] this one year though went very colorful bright blue lights and someone mentioned that I went to the next level of tactlessness now attacking attacking us attacking us
Attacking us they went within a week they were gone [Music] so this year there’s a new plan I was just listening to Christmas music and the idea of White Christmas [Music] I did think to myself oh my God that’s that’s really pretty it’s like a winter wonderland
So how do you make a white Christmas in Australia oh my God oh my God it’s quite heavy thank you plastic snow now that’s a first for Second Street so it worked out um a hundred dollars for 10 kilos
So I bought at uh 20 kilo it will be it’ll be an experiment that may be successful for next year in the trash not quite a winter wonderland but for a biking hot summer Christmas it might just do
The trick why don’t you get a bit of that snow and just try it on the Camellia now [Applause] [Music] I do have a problem with doing snow in Australian summer be perfect little snowman actually wouldn’t they it’s waste not what not for Street newcomer Megan
Obviously I’ll have to find out how much they are their budget is 50 bucks for the whole house I’m a great believer in in the whole reuse recycle um try not to get too many core materials that
We won’t really use again so she’s at the second hand store with her shopping list I think we’ll go more with angels and ribbons and and silver a lot of tinsel and things like that just to
Make it look pretty well this is what I’m thinking for the angels that you can sort of cut them out create some wings but how will DIY Stack Up in Second Street now the joy of opening up our prezies Brian and Jen have just spent eight times Megan’s budget in one spree
We did very well this morning we’ve got some great additions to our lights so I’m very very pleased with what we’ve got okay that must be that bit oh wow oh isn’t it pretty that’s cute oh look at that oh that’s pretty that is gonna look so nice in the
Dark it is isn’t it that’ll just look real it’s just gonna line up the area I’ve been playing with the idea of dressing up some of the kids dolls so that they’re like a little nativity scene so I’ll have to um get
Some Hessian sacks for their clothes I think individuality is celebrated on Second Street but come switch on bigger and brighter might be better Aussie spend an estimated 100 million dollars on Christmas decorations each year it’s a monster business but if you’re looking for oversized Christmas lights check out Victoria [Music]
In mickleham just outside Melbourne one single amazing house provides enough Christmas cheer to light up the neighborhood for a staggering seventy thousand dollars their giant Santa is three stories high we’re so big now I’ve got to get Cherry Pickers to put things up I never
Used to do that and one of 12 fantastic light sculptures so massive airline passengers can catch the show as they fly over we were lucky enough last year to have a couple of Pilots
Come through very late at night and they did tell us that yes you can see it as they’re flying over the top of us it’s Wayne wedding slows Recreation of the North Pole gave so much sad through the
Year with dramas happening everywhere somewhere’s got to be happy so we make this the North Pole and it’s the happiest place to be [Music] first thing you see is Santa 10 meters high and you’ve got Sanders cave where you’ve got Santa’s chair and we’ve got other parts where you
Walk once you walk into Sanders cave you can walk out the other side and you can see more lights you’ve got Santa and attract the Santa and fire engines and Mrs Claus riding a motorbike the light
Display it can take you 10 minutes to walk through or it can take you four hours to walk through it’s hard to believe now but the display actually started quite humbly back in 1991 I’d say definitely yes over the years it has become an obsession if there’s a Christmas shop
Around Jan’s got to go visiting and it doesn’t matter where I go I find a Christmas shop Scott put it on top of that rope and I’ll sit on it then I think I’ve spent at least 70 000 on crispirations we haven’t gone without a lot
We do go without holidays we don’t go on holidays anymore we have all our decorations in here as you can see you’ve got Santa Claus just as just his hand that’s just Santa Claus hand each Christmas a small army of friends and neighbors gets to work very smoothly everyone knows who’s doing
What and everyone loves coming in to do it now I’m getting more people and more people want the help and he’s up Wayne’s lost track of how many lights he has he stopped counting up to 50 000. they run
2.5 kilometers of power cords hook up 28 different Power boards and plug in 50 double adapters put up you’re going to test make sure it works which means it’s too big to run off the local grid they need their own power stations
They can run everything off the generator now and I can go inside and still boil the kettle [Music] so what makes someone this obsessed when I was um 10 years of age mum and dad passed away
And um I lost a lot of Christmas time because I was put into a home now I want the happiness to come back into it again and see the kids smile that’s that’s my life now if you can make the kids
Happy it’s a good place to be the money raised goes to the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital The Royal Children’s Hospital means a lot to me because they’ve helped me again hearing back in both my ears because it was slowly going down and they said I was going to go deaf and yeah
I’ll just collect donations to give back to them so they can buy more equipment after a whole week of preparation it’s the big switch on night okay the North Pole is officially open and welcome luckily the wedding slows had parking for 200 cars they get visitors by the thousands
We’re gonna have the big countdown now here we go ten nine five four three two one [Applause] [Music] four weeks of the Year Victoria has its own North Pole it’s the joy that it brings other people to
See the kids faces light up but it’s not just the little kids either we have a great range of people come through different age groups and everybody is just amazed I think it brings people together Jan and Wayne hope they can pass their legacy On to the Next Generation when I get older I hope my kids will take it over they’ll be still there backing them and I’ll be still saying how to do it even though I’m in a wheelchair [Music]
Imagination coming up milk bottles are there to diffuse the light so that you get a nice glow coming out [Music] straight the pressure’s really building [Music] you can’t imagine the kids faces when they walk past the place and see it no one wants the worst house you
Want to make sure you look good and people don’t laugh at our pathetic effort [Music] As we count down to Christmas Day Aussie streets are positively glowing no matter where you live there’s always a neighborhood trying to light up a smile on every passing face [Music] and bus driver Peter Rose sees a lot of passing faces you really gotta make sure that it’s tight
That it’s secure and it’s in no way is it going to move because it’s on there for six weeks five years ago Peter asked his Depot manager if he could spruce up his ride for Christmas my idea of a bit of tinsel in his idea a bit of
Tinsel were completely different so I probably went a little bit overboard okay and it may not seem like it but there’s about 300 meters of tinsel and there’s over 300 likes each year Peter and his son Ben transform an everyday City commute into a magical tour [Music]
You ready for those testimon and I’ll check them for you on yeah front aisle yes right light yeah rope lights good done all done excellent good you see the happiness of people you don’t ever have a grumpy passenger and every
Penny raised goes to the Westmead Children’s Hospital 3150 thank you very much oh cheers much appreciate it thank you thank you very much now that’s worth the bus fare [Music] meanwhile back on Second Street in Sydney there’s just three days to switch on we love Second Street
With all the lights because it’s fun walking around the street meeting everybody you don’t see from year to year it took me to set up one month every Saturday I work on seven up to 12 a night we
Have secret weapons they unveiled on the night all the neighbors work together to turn it into one of Australia’s most spectacular Christmas streets but some second streeters are better organized than others this year we got practically all new lights they say you should test your lights before
You even put a mark boat wheel too eager to get them up so we haven’t tested anything yet [Music] Abby Winspear and her mum Susie are trying to get ahead for the first time in 10 years [Music] it’s my favorite time of the year it’s it’s better than birthdays it’s better than chocolate
We usually end up putting the lights up on the day I was a light up night we try to get organized beforehand but it just never happens is somewhere have a big budget so each year getting stuff down from the roof is a bit of
A lottery we might it’s looking really old and Rusty and half the lights don’t work can you bear to put Rudolph in the bin yes yes it’s a shame check them out [Music] we don’t own
A ladder we need the ladder to put things up and we just borrowed everyone else oh Brian and Jen we leave the fence or lorries or somebody’s so you can see this is endless Abby and Susie might be
Struggling but on this street there’s no avoiding the Christmas light up I’ve got a headache already although the pressure’s on in Second Street the good news is there’s plenty of help here we are first time is Megan and Andrew are calling on reinforcements I don’t think anything can
Prepare you for it and the number of lights so what are we in for this is our 10th Christmas here and we’ve done it every year because we live next door to Lauren so you get a lot of help neighbors Joe and Sharon remember how daunting it was when they started [Music]
Hundreds of people at first I really need some help we quickly became aware of what a big deal it really is Megan had big Eco plans and a budget of just 50 bucks yeah so that’s what we have to do I use my cutting out
Skills for many years whatever we do as long as we do something and we’ve put a heart and soul into it I think it’ll be great but as the big day gets closer Megan’s starting to have reservations the
Whole idea of Christmas lights is the spectacle and the illumination and without having the lights that is probably my only fear that everything else we’re trying to and do will be lost Megan’s right to worry once you’re hooked into Christmas lights Aussie style There’s
No Going Back things just get bigger Bolder and brighter throwing some techno Wizardry and you might just get a showstopper like this one in Queensland if you see lights flashing in perfect sync to music in the cinnamon Park area of Brisbane this Christmas you’d
Be forgiven for thinking it’s a teenage Rave but no this is the dedication of a retired engineer been referred to as clap Christmas light addiction problem checking these connections there are quite a number of in Australia and around the world that suffer from this addiction I think I’ve
Solved that problem Jeff Harvey’s Obsession has culminated in a display of more than 80 000 lights all synced perfectly to music by our mind-boggling computer program setting the lights up to the music is centrist-like filling in a big spreadsheet each light connects to a
Particular computer Channel and then for each of the channels you can turn lights on turn them off fade them up and down or twinkle them I guess we call it in the trade a blinky flashy system
I can’t resist going over for his big switch on uh lots of wires as you can see it controls the spinner no doubt he’s an engineer every cable has its place I started getting into
Lights to impress the grandkids I do it now for my own satisfaction some of the kids really love it for the rest of you Aussie light Fanatics here’s the stats 170 Mann hours programming 500 computer channels through 10 kilometers of cable
To synchronize 80 000 lights This One controls mega tree mega tree what a name yeah mega tree it’s got about 20 000 Lots the milk bottles are there to diffuse the light so that you get a nice sort of glow coming out rather than some bright Sparks bringing Christmas cheer to the community
Is a big bonus but now it’s a major tribute to his late wife Jenny who passed away earlier this year since oh I’ve passed away I’ve taken a very different approach to money the costs associated
With doing the display uh several thousand a year probably this is my hobby I don’t count the cost I can’t wait to see this switched on oh it’s I think it’s brilliant of course you do give yourself a wrap I would you spend enough hours doing it right come on let’s go
All Jeff’s hard work is about to pay off so what does happen now well you know the computer turns them on at the appropriate time [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] look out Hollywood [Music] [Applause] [Music] all Jeff’s time money and know-how brings so much joy to his community [Music]
Family Christmas beautiful lights congratulations mate what a fantastic job the Christmas tree is spreading up and down the country coming up there’s check out shock on Second Street today’s grand total is 2 313 and they’re not the only ones spending up big anything we see that looks different we just tend to go
And buy and we discover the secrets behind Australia’s most iconic Christmas display so just imagine going to bed at night thinking two or three million people have seen your puppetry [Music] all over Australia we’re counting down to our own special brand of Christmas it’s hot
Sunny and oh so bright when you ask an Aussie what’s for Christmas they say you bet [Music] on Second Street Sydney neighbors have put on a monster show for the last 23 years they’re getting ready for their biggest ever switch on no matter what it costs there’s no
Cost on Christmas lights can’t put it that way it’s Christmas spirit you can’t imagine the kids faces when they walk past the place and see it this year actually we’ve put up a whole lot of new stuff just for this year that two and a half thousand dollars it’s also a chance for
The streets young talent to shine what we’re definitely looking forward to Christmas this year because like Christmas is a very special thing for this street we all enjoy it the feeling in our community at the moment is we’re just getting excited about the build up to Christmas
What Christmas Street spectacular would be complete without the kids band you have to just play the recorder with miles and it was fairly small but then we kind of asked some friends and it became a big thing that was good Jen is another new addition
Although husband Brian’s been here for 23 years Jen is already making an impression so it was time for a bit of a woman’s touch and I just said to Brian Wright I’m starting from scratch give me a credit card and off I go Jen’s pretty special lady she quickly
Met a lot of the neighbors and that was quite successful they uh they all put up with her [Music] they’re beautiful since Jen’s moved to Second Street her sister Kath has noticed a big change she’s really happy here very happy for her and she’s found happiness on Second Street
And I think that a lot of it has to do with the neighborhood and the people and Brian of course but a lot of it has to do with the fact that there’s such a strong Community here
Oh one more it’s about you’re the lucky one to put the last one on when do you want to put it I’m happy that moved into Second Street because it’s a lot more interesting and cheerful than
The other state I need to go there Abby yeah yeah beautiful perfect thanks kids is fantastic doesn’t it I think we’ve got the best Trends straight what do you think [Music] yep come on got it yep got it okay drill Community is contagious here and one bloke is often the source of infection
Laurie McGinty beautiful he’s pretty much the caretaker of the whole street all year round what we’ll do is put it behind Santa first Laurie’s a very caring and uh kind guy he does a lot for the neighborhood for other people and that’s on all levels you know we
Have neighbors who come and knock on doors we have neighbors who have keys to homes what’ll happen the light up will be on the 19th same Villas as usual with the barbecue and friends over and all that fun and I think that’s about Community that’s about caring for
People rather than being stuck behind four walls and not worrying what’s happening on the outside Nothing would keep Mal and Deb indoors at Christmas wow wow they’re creating a Winter Wonderland theme shop is beautiful thank you and now they’re hitting the shops for something special they’ve got baubles they’re in the market for a new tree for Deb’s prize decorations
And they want a second opinion from Master of Ceremonies Laurie that tree would look perfect in your place it’s just beautiful I could spend all day here truly there’s so much stuff here that I could use but it’s just a matter of finding the right spot for it [Music]
Tacky in the past so he’s keeping it simple so I’m looking for bells and again more silver and white ornaments just to give it more Sparkle I suppose more of a white Christmas effect something like that would be perfect I’m not sure where you put them in the garden [Music]
We don’t have children so we don’t have the expensive children so we do have a little bit more disposable income so this is our Christmas toilet paper we have a bit of a selection we usually
Have more but we’ve been wiped out a little bit we never start out with a budget we always know we’ll probably spend Maybe up to five hundred dollars but some years we’ve gone over that and some years
We’ve not this is a half tree so you need to have a wall for it to it does need to be supported well it would just mean that all the decorations will move on site yeah it is a beautiful tree
Like I I love this you like the feeling yeah when you’ve got quality decorations or family heirlooms that you hang each year you want to look after them but what do you think I’m thinking [Music] it’s the first time for Megan and Andrew I like these Stars too they’re gorgeous
They were going all out to recycle and spend just 50 bucks like would they be okay outside but they’re starting to bow to pressure when we think about our lights Godzilla is as many as you can get on so thank you so we’re looking to get as many lights as
We possibly can I really like this Angel yeah we’ll get that one that’s gorgeous they’re still shopping for second hand but they’ve decided to up their budget a little flights here we go they’re gorgeous actually the main challenge for us I think we’ll be justifying spending money on
Buying a lot of light I think we’ve only got one string of light so far and that was for our Christmas tree these have worked really well in the garden wouldn’t they you know you want to make sure you look good and people don’t laugh at our pathetic effort [Music]
How you going good that’s good Second Street has another convert I’ve only got one that’s clear but we’ve got the lights yep so how much are these you know well I’ve I blew my budget a little I spent 75 but I got eight sets of Lights which is awesome
Well we have got um this is the most beautiful suit that we have Mel dab and Laurie haven’t finished Christmas shopping there’s a Second Street tradition that needs updating size wise yes I think you’ll be perfect this is the um size it should fit
You extra extra large it’s got the perfect frame for Santa Mal is Second Street Santa I think I sort of got nominated for it because of my larger size exposure natural build natural build yes last year well it’s still more than you really have it’s time for a new suit Merry
Christmas make that two new suits Laurie said to me the other week wouldn’t it be great if we had to Mrs Claus and I said yes I think that’s a good idea and he goes a new beard it’s just a new ID and we’ll probably it’ll probably become a everything now
Especially if we’re going to invest in a set Mrs Claus suit today’s grand total is 2 313. that’s our biggest speaking thank you oh my goodness I can’t believe how much we’ve bought oh my goodness it’s just been amazing what an amazing shop shopping is so much a part of Christmas
Aussies will spend around 40 billion dollars this year on all the trimmings but there’s one shopping tradition that doesn’t cost us a cent Christmas window displays [Music] the story behind Australia’s most famous display starts with a little boy who once thought he’d
Never speak okay the year was 1951 and David poulton’s stammer made him an easy target for playground bullies so he became mute from the ages of five to seven he said nothing then I
Had a teacher put a puppet on my hand and I spoke through this puppet changed my life it always gave me confidence that little boy grew into one of Australia’s most revered Puppet Masters one of the many strings to his bow is the creation of Christmas displays for department store Windows
Around the world I love the expression and I love what you can do to people you can lift people you can make them happy so we’ll make the loop there yeah and we’ll use only one of these on the base
Minus the largest balls perfect hidden away these Noosa Workshop David conjures up Christmas magic this year he’s creating six window displays With A Christmas Carol theme for David Jones in Sydney it would have to be about three million people see the windows so just imagine going to bed
At night thinking two or three million people have seen your puppetry the job is so big it takes 10 people six months to pull it off you see it’s not just hand crafting each character it’s engineering hundreds of automatic puppet actions
With electric motors and kilometers of string we tie about 10 000 knots a year and we buy our nylon in a 10 kilometer spoil so the local fishing shop does wonder what we do with the nylon and
We operate them on a camshaft and on this shaft we attach cam wheels and puppet is choreographed with this string and the cam is cut into the shape we need and if that’s not complicated enough once David’s team get it working here and so I can assure you saves hours of Tangles
They have to pull it apart and truck the whole thing a thousand kilometers to Sydney we can’t control traffic we can’t control accidents we can’t control floods that’s the part when I’m most nervous if anything breaks on the road it could be disastrous we’ll catch up with David later
Hope everything gets there in one piece Journey [Music] there’s something about puppets and Christmas lights that go together and if you’re anything like the gaiki family in irmington you can never have enough of both [Music] we moved in here about 10 years ago since then we just got bigger to the
Point we’ve just about covered every spot we can travel within the house now at last count that collected more than 200 characters and objects for their playful display [Music] anything we see that looks different or more appealing than than we go and we just tend to
Go and buy and say that’ll look good here and there and that’ll make people happy and that would enhance our display hello Mrs Claude we have a lot of the fun stuff on the lawn and in
The carport we have all the nativity so that’s all there for people that just like to see the holy stuff but the craziest thing is they have to bring it inside every night for six weeks we’re
Out there till 11 30 minutes every night then we have to bring all the toys back in because John first fingers car in then you see and we bring them in the night and we bring them out every every night then but does that put off John and Mary not on your life
Training I have a sneaking suspicion that I have far more fun than everybody looking over the fence it’s just a lovely feeling to to have so many people be looking over our front fence at our display John reckons his display might even rekindle the Christmas spirit in
Any bar humbugs who might pass by I think those people who are prepared to knock Christmas and really do need to take a good hard look at themselves well done guys well done [Music] next a last minute race to meet Showtime
You wish you lost a bit of weight and the search for Perfection on Second Street light it up honey [Music] oh my goodness the porch is worrying me it looks a bit too light Christmas is nearly here and we Aussies are going all out for world domination in our new national sport Christmas lights everyone’s searching for Illuminating inspiration and for some the light bulb goes on in the middle of the night I can’t sleep at night thinking about what I can do and
Then I asked my bike would this be all right would that be all right and just know it might be a good idea and I get the ideas of place match Christmas cards Christmas paper anything from Quaker’s HealthWorks his Christmas magic in Wood characters slays houses you name it
And he doesn’t think about the cost I’ll get it so I never budget my wife gave it crooked I don’t take much notice of that yeah there’s something about Christmas lights that brings out our creativity at the end of every year or if you’re as fanatical as Peter all year round
I start thinking about what I’m gonna do for the next year straight after I pull them down imaginations have been working overtime in Second Street too [Music] report to showing off the lights but you’ll come from this one miles and jump up here
I’m gonna be an elf wearing enough costume we want the elves to have fun and enjoy it and help Santa along the way there will be a surprise in the night so stay tuned it’s one of the biggest
And longest running displays in Australia we had a late start this year probably got an hour or so to go and we’re done everything should be right they worked last night so we hope they all work
Tonight with our fingers crossed all the Neighbors in 60 plus houses are wiring up their own designs now we can put start putting the baubles on okay I would imagine there’s going to be at least [Music] 2 000 mics this year Mel and Deb are hatching a white Christmas to wow the crowds
In the true Spirit of Christmas everyone’s roped in this is Kate my niece she’s been a great little helper over the years she’s helped out myself and she’s also helped out Laurie as well being an angel in Laurie’s front
Yard I like helping because it’s really fun and I get to see what they’re putting up before anybody else does see Dad here it is this way but you’ve got to unthread it see and there’s no Escape for
Deb’s 80 year old dad Eddie dad has always helped with the Christmas lights from the very first year he’s quite sprightly so he’s good at getting up the ladder It’s a Long Way From The Humble decorations Eddie grew up with all we ever had was streamers in the in the lounge room
Just streams you know these haunted just stretchy like concertina things it’s more uh more expensive today that’s for sure Mel and Deb have spent more than three thousand dollars this year alone I don’t know what to think of them but is it enough what do you think
Annie honest opinion no it looks good looks good you’re a liar Mal’s still super sensitive about his display being called tacky one year [Music] it looks a bit plain during the day but once you light it all up looks good yeah licorice
And what’s a Christmas Spectacular without lollies on Second Street there’s the great Lolly giveaway to every single visitor oh beautiful you can smell it I think we started off with about 500 lollipops
Initially uh just as a nice thing to do but that was a long time ago yeah a few years ago and last year we got through just over 7 000 lollipops wow oh goodness we’ve broken the record we now have 16
000 lollipops it’s all good and these to share with people of course Prime you’re up still got room [Music] Second Street does get thousands of visitors and Lori and Brian are happy to blow the budget [Music] just over a thousand yeah
That’s all right Christmas isn’t about money it’s about doing something for someone else about giving and that’s what Second Street and the whole idea of Second Street is totally about last box in behind sixteen thousand lollipops let’s play rock and roll let’s go
Big switch on is tomorrow night so Susie’s 15 year old daughter Abby has hatched a plan to catch up we have a whole lot of people coming this afternoon to help us put out the lights
And things which is in part of 35 people she rang me at 12 o’clock today while I was at work busy as anything mum will you kill me so Mom are we gonna have a PowerPoint in the mailbox or last
Like last time please don’t be a spider please no there’s no spiders don’t worry about spiders we try to get organized beforehand but it just never happens so so Mom are you winding them round the tree or are we sticking them along the
Sides of the tree there’s hardly a plug wide or light hung without trusty brine from up the road yeah I was looking for these earlier I know they’re here somewhere [Music] there we go just what you need wonderful the usual thing is come down and get the ladder first uh one
Of the two ladders and then um then there’s all the bits and pieces that go along with it but yeah Second Street isn’t the only place in a bit of a rush Australia’s biggest puppet show has just
Hit town ready to be installed for its Premiere how does the Walker straight out we’ll put it on the footpath there the big question on everyone’s mind is have all the pieces arrived here safely our Voyage to Sydney in the nine ton truck is the most risky part of the whole job
That’s the part one I’m most nervous but it appears that everything has arrived I’m certainly not going to admit to any mistakes at this point but Maestro David poulton has spent half the year creating the intricate displays in his Noosa Workshop
We’re gonna go this way in you’re right like a giant puzzle each bit has to be pieced back together perfectly it fits Nathan well done and then squeezed into six cramped shop windows just win you wish you lost a bit of weight one of the exciting challenges of building windows are
Actually getting them in the windows push so when we come to build the set we always have to bear in mind that the physical size of the componentry it’s tied in it and if that wasn’t tricky
Enough I tell you it has to be done covertly after dark to remain hidden from the public today’s a little bit of security involved in our windows we want the opening day to be a surprise with the hardware in place by morning they can start unpacking the star attractions
The amazing thing is when you unwrap them you think oh yeah and you get quite excited seeing them again because they’re like old friends [Music] physically rebuild them and we put the strings back on and we just keep testing and testing in a Precision built display nothing’s
Left to Chance the movements move about a hundred thousand times in the six weeks so that’s quite a lot of pressure and strain on a string so we use a fishing swivel so that the string always has a
Little bit of movement in it you can make a puppet or a doll but the secret is to bring it to life that’s when we get excited [Applause] [Music] David’s six window theaters finally come to life hundreds of choreographed movements will run 24 hours a day for the next two months [Music]
Look at little kids eyes in their grandparents eyes and that’s the thrill of it foreign it’s about second Street’s turn to shine Laurie’s finishing up his display which hasn’t changed all that much over the years this is very much more traditional setup for Christmas for us there’s
Nothing really overly modern or outrageous Laurie and his dad built this when his parents were alive so it means more to him than any other decoration they would love to see it continue and be sharing with the thousands of people we have come through the street and
I still put their picture on the front round to Richie so they’re there in a different way light it up honey three two one hope this works oh my goodness the night before switch on Mal and dab are down to the final testing
Oh my goodness what do you think people are going to think Kate I think they think it’s cool the porch is worrying me it looks a bit too light it’s it’s 80 there but it was never going to be perfect so Laurie and I are going
Shopping at 8am tomorrow morning are you really going to be shopping oh my God at the time already I think we’ve got enough but but you can never have enough light when we come back past Second Street got what it takes to be the Christmas Street in Australia all right [Music] all around our amazing country we’re switching on for Christmas oh where does Christmas lights quite like we do in scale size in Canberra Phil jansen’s collection is surely the most expensive in the land if anyone could take it upon themselves to count sir my favorite part is Santa falling down the chimney
I am definitely crazy Phil I enjoy putting the lights up every year it has to be better and better all the time and that’s what I’m trying for [Music] [Applause] to match the sheer size of the witting slows gigantic Father Christmas
I’ve had a lot of people that have come in from overseas and I said we don’t do this over in England no so but we do it over here while Jeff Harvey’s computer-controlled Wonderland is truly mind-blowing [Applause] you see it working after after all that’s long
Yes we Aussies love lights and the spirit of Christmas they bring [Applause] now it’s second Street’s turn to shine oh that’s really good no that’s perfect I like that there that’s fine beautiful yeah must be getting excited now oh yeah look what
I’m saying thank you see you later everyone’s confident this will be their best display ever come night four a crowd starts gathering at the top of the Street near Laurie’s place where he and his parents started all this 23 years ago [Applause] [Music] six one one three two one [Music] [Applause] [Music]
[Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign s excelled themselves Laurie’s place is spectacular it actually feels fantastic um I I the number of people and houses with upmistry is just unbelievable [Applause] [Music] it’s actually sharing that joy and that fun and that excitement amongst the the mothers and fathers and the
Children and they take away something that costs nothing and what about Brian and his new wife I think Jen’s earned her place on Second Street input this year you can see happy faces around the place and the lights you know I just look at people’s you know reactions
To the lights and the countdown was fantastic you know it was just a buzz and this one Susie and Abby blew me away not bad for a last minute job well we did it amazingly what time what time’s the clock in um ten to eight we finished and how’s this for a
White Christmas Even the snow worked out worth every dollar you must feel so proud there it’s a fabulous Street fabulous people fabulous neighbors I’m loving it I am really really happy it was great last year but this year’s an 11 out of 10. so congratulations it’s a
Great effort then there’s the newest addition to Second Street not too shabby for a DIY budget job wasn’t our choice but we got involved yeah but he’s like well too I mean yeah and another new entry in the Second Story history Mrs Claus hello Merry Christmas Merry Christmas everyone [Music]
The picture Laurie’s parents could never have imagined all those years ago I reckon they’d be really proud of their street tonight and all the neighbors rejoicing in Christmas spirit it all starts with one life what an amazing night an amazing Street an amazing Aussie Christmas [Music]
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from the McGinty family past and present Merry Christmas from the wise family Merry Christmas from Jen and Ron Merry Christmas from dinner now [Music] Merry Christmas [Music] I can’t wait for Christmas we saw the Christmas tree yeah rude up nose with a big red nose
4 Comments
Your hometown is so beautiful
Let there be light!
ptato flakes dont hrut anythingor flower for ground
its just joyous to see all families come together pitch im .thats alote of money must save all yr.its wonderfull to see may u all beblessed this chritmass &allyr long