E very holiday season, Phoenix transforms into a city of lights. From the shimmering skyscrapers of downtown to serene suburban areas aglow with colored bulbs, twinkling displays adorn streets, buildings and everywhere in between, helping even the Grinchiest of hearts to grow three sizes. Neighborhoods across the Valley also come alive with a symphony of dazzling decorations as locals dress up their homes for the occasion. There are some Yuletide die-hards, though, who go all out with a vast sea of lights, custom-built characters and handmade displays. Some span entire blocks. Others are over-the-top enough to appear on ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” All of these efforts are featured in our list of metro Phoenix’s biggest holiday displays, which is organized by their location in the Valley. Bundle up and load up your fam, grab something warm to drink and get ready for revelry. ’Tis the season for lights. CENTRAL PHOENIX Willetta Street 714 W. Willetta St. The timeless ambiance of this historic American Colonial Revival-style home from the 1920s is accentuated by the glow of 1,200 holiday lights. Hours: Nightly starting at dusk through early January. Shepard Family Lights 2101 E. Mitchell Drive The festive glow of 20,000 classic Christmas lights and 100-plus strings of traditional lights decorate the exterior of this 1,484-square-foot home in central Phoenix. Hours: Nightly through the holidays. Pinchot Avenue’s Candy Canes 2801 E. Pinchot Ave. The charming scene along Pinchot Avenue between 26th to 28th streets features candy canes wrapped in colorful lights adorning both sides of the road and a glowing Christmas star and peace symbol overhead. Hours: Nightly starting at dusk through early January. Arcadia Christmas House 4415 E. Calle Tuberia After offering one of Phoenix’s more elab- orate and enormous holiday scenes for decades at his Arcadia home, Lee Sepanek (a.k.a. “Christmas Lee”) is doing a more modest display this year — reportedly because of rising costs and health concerns — with 10,000 lights and a variety of deco- rations. Hours: Nightly, 6 to 10 p.m., through Jan. 1. NORTH VALLEY North Phoenix Lights 18639 N. First Ave. northphoenixlights.neocities.org Carl Jimenez arranges a merry scene outside of his north Phoenix home that’s nothing if not packed. There are countless vintage plastic blow mold figurines contained within the walk-thru display, as well as Santas, elves, toy soldiers smiling snowmen and even a “Gingerassic Park” photo-op with cheerful dinosaurs. New for this year is MicroTree, the smallest Christmas tree in all of Arizona. Hours: Nightly, 6 to 9 p.m., until Dec. 25. Scary Christmas House 4431 W. Escuda Drive, Glendale scarychristmashouse.com You could tune into ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” in late December to see this massive monument to “The Nightmare Before Christmas” created by Bob Spacy Jr., or you could swing by for a look. Either way, you’ll get an eyeful of all the custom-made props, characters and scenes from the Disney animated film dotting his two-story home, which is glowing with hundreds of thousands of lights. There’s also Oogie Boogie’s lair, skeleton reindeer pulling Jack in a sleigh and a flying Zero flitting about. Hours: 6 to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; 6 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Miracle on 34th Lane 22415 N. 34th Lane facebook.com/miracleon34thlane Think your home is festive? The MacGregor family’s residence is decked out with more than 70,000 lights, a carousel, different wreaths, Santa at a drive-in theater, a 20-foot-tall mega-tree and close to 100 figu- rines. Hours: Nightly, 6 to 10 p.m., through Jan. 1, weather permitting. Christmas Lights on Voltaire 4600-4800 E. Voltaire Ave. What happens when a neighborhood teams up to bring holiday cheer to their corner of the world? The synchronized lights display encompasses more than two dozen homes along Voltaire Avenue between 46th and 48th streets, as well as on the adjacent Sharon Drive and 46th Place. Each participating home is individually decorated and is linked together by a preprogrammed light show set to a Christmas megamix broadcast over 98.1 FM. Hours: 5:30 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; and 5:30 to 11 p.m., Friday through Sunday, through Jan. 1. Moon Valley’s 12 Homes of Christmas Moon Valley Neighborhood moonvalley.org The residents of this North Phoenix ’hood join forces each year and offer a holiday lights destination. The various subdivisions found west of Seventh Street between Greenway Parkway and Thunderbird Road feature many homeowners dressing up their domiciles in festive and creative ways when the holidays roll around. It’s part of an annual contest where Moon Valleyites judge the best displays. This year, the results of the contest and a list of every participating house will be posted in a free app devoted to Moon Valley’s light displays in early December. It can be downloaded at app. moonvalley.org. Hours: Nightly through early January. Hours vary by residence. ReinDeer Valley Christmas 3302 W. Adobe Dam Road reindeervalleychristmas.com This north Phoenix family has been putting up an excessive amount of decora- tions annually since 2012. And just like Santa’s “naughty or nice” list, its gotten larger each each year. The current version of ReinDeer Valley Left to right: The Parsons’ M & S Lights display in Mesa. The Birkett Family’s Winter Wonderland in Scottsdale is one of the Valley’s most popular holiday displays. The Scary Christmas House in Glendale is inspired by Disney’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” (Photos by O’Hara Shipe, Chris Birkett and Jacob Tyler Dunn) >> p 14 THE GLOW UP Where to find the best and brightest DIY holiday displays lighting up metro Phoenix. By Benjamin Leatherman
