By Erica Buehler
As the holiday season begins, warm coats and hot cocoa make an appearance, and so does David Mack’s annual Christmas light show. His holiday extravaganza features roughly 15,000 lights synchronized with different songs and themes.
Mack grew up in Bryan College Station, but lives about 30 minutes northeast of College Station now. This year is the eighth year he has put on his Christmas light show, which has become a bit of a staple to the area.
“I love walking around town and kids will come up to me and recognize me from my light show,” says Mack. “They get really excited and say, ‘Hey, it’s you!’”
Mack says he does all his own songs and visual sequences — the music is synchronized with the light show. There are different characters incorporated into the show’s jokes and story, voiced by friends and family.
Mack adds new elements to the light show each year, so visitors can always expect something exciting and extravagant. For instance, he has displayed characters on the trees surrounding his house, such as a snowman or talking Christmas tree; a friend of his once parachuted into the light show; and he’s even incorporated people’s pictures into the display. Mack may have eight years of spreading holiday cheer under his belt, but his love for light displays dates back to his childhood.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve liked Christmas lights,” says Mack. “When I [lived] at home, Mom and Dad set them up and that was my thing I loved doing. In 2010 I saw a similar [light show] on TV and I started researching, and that was the first year I did my show. Every year since then has only gotten bigger.”
Mack says when the season starts to kick off, he listens to the radio for song inspiration. From that point, it takes about a year to get a song synced start to finish with the lighting cues. “Everything I do is handmade,” he says. “I build it all myself. You can’t just go to a store and get this.”
Mack uses a special software to individually control each light bulb that is on his house and the surrounding trees.
“Every light is DC voltage; they’re all LED,” says Mack. “Every bulb can contain any color that I want it to. I program all of it through my central computer software.”
This year’s show has everything from the holidays to patriotic displays, according to Mack. This year he is also trying something new called “Xlights Around the World 2018.” Every participant in Xlights will have one sequence set to “The Greatest Show” from the movie The Greatest Showman. Xlights will also put a video mashup together of all the light shows from around the world.
Mack’s light show runs on a loop and lasts anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. The first official show kicks off the Saturday before Thanksgiving. After the kickoff party, the show runs every night. Sunday through Thursday visitors can marvel at the lights from 6 to 10pm, and Friday and Saturday it runs 6pm to 12am. Mack’s home is located at 8363 S FM 46.
For more updates on the show, visit the Mack Christmas Light House Facebook page.
