NORMAN, Okla. (KOKH) — A 17-year tradition continues tonight in southeast Norman. Families are stopping by the Downs Family Christmas light show.
Chuck Downs and his family put a show on for the community every year. He tells Fox 25 it takes a lot of time and care to set it up. Downs says his lights intentionally are displayed in a certain type of pattern.
This Christmas Eve, drivers are stopping by Downs’ house early to get a good view of his lights show.
“It’s so amazing that they do this for the community,” Ann Pearce said. “We’ve done this since I was in high school, so it’s been over 10 years. Every Christmas Eve, we come to the Downs Family lights before we head home and do our Christmas Eve dinner. It’s so extravagant. It’s amazing. It’s a great way that this family gives back.”
Downs says his free presentation spans about 500 feet. He uses about 20 miles worth of lights, and 18 miles of extension cords.
“There’s quite a bit of stuff,” Downs said. “It takes us about a month and a half to set up. Almost two months, which is usually the beginning of October. It’s entirely set up by ourselves. The whole family gets together and does it every year. It’s kind of our thing to do in the fall.”
Here’s how the viewing experience happens: you park right outside of Downs’ house, and switch your radio station on over to 99.9 FM. All of the lights you’ll see outside this house are synchronized to what’s being played on that radio station.
“It’s all run from a computer. There’s just a single laptop computer in there running the whole thing. The audio output in the computer ties to a radio transmitter.”
As an engineer and software developer, Downs says it takes 40 hours to match up his lights with one song. He adds that it’s all worth it because it draws a crowd.
“We’ll get about 25,000 cars over the season. Tonight, which is Christmas Eve, we’ll usually get 1,200 cars out here. That means one is pulling in every six to eight seconds all night long. We can’t not do it. We kind of have to do it every year. It’s something that everybody looks forward to.”
Every year, he asks people who see his show to help the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO)
“About three million meals have been raised at this point. Every year, it’s quite a good amount of food. We’ll usually get about 12,000 pounds of food. It’s just a nice vehicle for doing it since we do have the flow of traffic. [RFBO] is in the business of helping families and helping kids, and that’s what we’re all about.”
Downs says you can check out his lights at 2900 72nd Ave SE in Norman, from 6 p.m. to midnight. The last day you’ll get to see it is Sunday, January 5, 2025.