The 2012 season for Christmas lights has begun! There were a few spots of rain and the odd clap of thunder earlier, but the weather cleared just in time. As always, the light show running times are 8:30 to 10:30 pm throughout December.
The webcam is up and running during show times for those who want to see the display live. Photos and HD videos will begin to appear in the next few days. So many ways to see the display, but nothing beats seeing it in person (need directions?)
Weather forecasts for December 1 are available and predict that there will be no rain or storms that day. Even better is that temperatures are expected to be in the low to mid 20’s. Perfect conditions to launch the display!
The webcam has been offline for a couple of days but with luck will return this evening.
Well, the days are counting away as December 1 approaches. This time next week, there will be light! At least that is the plan.
Most of the display has been installed, with the testing soon to follow. Not all is finished with the set up stage, however, as some of the new light additions this year ended up being too short. Longer ones are on the way, but the big question is will they arrive in time for December 1st? Time will tell!
Once weather forecasts for December 1st become available, if they suggest a wet start to December then a further blog post will be made. Rain will inevitably delay the initial light up of the display for safety reasons – water and power don’t mix.
The wet and stormy weather has cleared so the Christmas display is now running from the usual 8:30 to 10:30 pm timeframe.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms are approaching over the next hour. There is a chance that there will not be a display tonight as a result of this wet weather.
A final decision will be made closer to 8:30 tonight.
UPDATE 1 8:30pm: The display is running, but may switch off before 10:30 pm if the thunderstorms return.
UPDATE 2 9:40pm: Heavy rains have returned so the display has been switched off for the night early. The lights return tomorrow at 8:30 pm.
A few days late posting this, but the lights are on. Running times as always are 8:30 to 10:30 pm until New Years Eve.
There are a few photos and one video of the 2011 display up now, with more to come in the next few days.
The final display items are going out now with just 50 hours left until the 2011 switch on.
With the weather looking good for this year’s switch on, you can see the lights doing what they do from Thursday, December 1, at 8:30 pm.
It is now full steam ahead with the display set up. All roof lights have been installed as of today, and there is a change here! What is the change? You’ll have to keep an eye on the 2011 photo gallery page for addition of new photos in coming days.
As in other years, the scheduled light up time will be at 8:30 pm on December 1. This will not occur if there are strong winds or wet weather present. Unlike previous years, there will be no official launch song.
The lights have now been switched off for the final time in 2010. I’d like to wish everybody a happy and enjoyable 2011. Thanks again to the people who extended their hand after part of the display was brought down by vandals.
Now comes the big task of tearing down the display and putting everything neatly into storage (perhaps I lie about the neatness… we will see).
Tonight, all the controlling electronics were dry enough to run all eight controllers, which means the full 2010 display is back running once again! 🙂
Some light sets did suffer damage from the excessive rains of last Tuesday, however on the bright side (no pun intended), a dead section of rope light seems to have fix itself.
