Southport Magazine

If you’re looking for some Christmas Cheer and a way to help your community this year, we have just the thing for you. And you don’t even have to get out of your car! The Brazil Family Oak Island turns their house on SE 15th Street into a Winter Wonderland, complete with music and singing lights. We spoke to Mariah Brazil about how they pull this off each year. 

How long have you been doing this?

We’ve been doing light shows like this one for seven years, but we’ve done displays for all of our adult lives. 

How large, in terms of lights, pieces, whatever is a good measure, is your display?

We are running about 120,000 pixels and 20,000 LED lights all controlled by 14 computerized controllers. We have 64 LED props and 38 pixel props. One room in our house is designated as “command central,” also (somewhat) affectionately referred to as “The Christmas Room”.

Has it grown?

It’s grown tremendously! Every year we add more and more. Some of the newest items this year are a new nativity, a second 24-foot tall pixelated Christmas tree, dolphins, bows and holly, a cactus, five additional mini-trees and four MORE singing lightbulbs.  Every year on the day after Christmas, my friend and I are out at the crack of dawn to buy more lights, props and other goodies for the next year. For the last two years, we’ve been so successful we couldn’t fit a can of soda in the car once we were finished shopping. 

How long does it take to set this up?

Normally, Michael starts in September, and continues until Thanksgiving Day. This year with so much wind, he got a really late start and didn’t start until about the second week of October. 

How many people are involved?

Two! Just Michael and our son, Tim. 

How do you work the music? You have a little transmitter? How even does someone figure that out?

We have an FM transmitter with our own “radio station. When Michael writes a sequence for a particular song, the lights are timed to the song. We choose a song and import the music, write the sequence and then save it all as a single file. Multiple files all put together become “The Show.”

What brought this idea on? Is it a family tradition to have a big display at Christmas?

We’ve always had displays, but 8 years ago our son, Tim, mentioned these computer controllers that made the lights go “blinky-blinky.” Tim started this part of the endeavor, and then the two guys began helping each other.

You’re collecting donations, correct? For whom, and why is it so important especially this year?

This year, our beneficiaries are No Hungry Child and Oak Island Water Rescue. Toys and non-perishable food donations will go to No Hungry Child, and financial donations will go to Oak Island Water Rescue. We all know it’s been a rough year. So many people out of work or working at reduced hours has put a huge strain on food banks all over the country. Oak Island Water Rescue experienced catastrophic damage to its building as a result of Isaias. We’re hoping the community will come together with us to help both of these wonderful organizations. 

Where are you located?

We are on SE 15th Street on Oak Island. 

What times and dates is the display active?

We will go live on Thanksgiving night at 5:30. After that, our hours are Sunday -Thursday 5:30 to 9 pm, and Friday and Saturdays the show will be running from 5:30 to 10 pm.

Do you have any idea how many people come by?

Last year we tried to keep a count. When the count surpassed 1,000 cars a night in the week leading up to Christmas, we lost track. We are expecting (hoping for!) a much larger crowd this year. 

You’ve got to have some cool neighbors, what do they think of all this?

We have the best neighbors we could ask for. There are two little kids on our street, and for that reason, we shut off the show an hour earlier on weeknights. They’ve been extremely patient – and very kind!  To try to lessen their inconvenience, we ask that folks don’t turn their radio up really loudly, and don’t drive on our neighbors’ yards. As traffic gets heavier, we will be out directing traffic in an attempt to help with the flow. It’s also really helpful if people will dim their headlights so as to not blind others trying to see the show. 

Please feel free to add anything else you’d like to share.

We offer free coffee to first responders who visit our show. All they need to do is let us know they’re here, and we’ll bring out a fresh, hot cup of coffee in a to-go mug. It’s one more way we try to give back to those who serve our community. 

This is a labor of love for Michael. He puts his heart and soul into this show. We love our community and her people. We have more fun watching people smile and laugh than we do actually putting the show together.