Where to see holiday light shows at CT homes with fun for visitors and help for people in need
December in central and northern Connecticut brings a collection of exuberantly decorated houses with spectacular holiday light displays, and this year some of the best spots are in Plainville, Windsor, Bristol, Glastonbury and Stafford.
Several of the homes feature lawns filled with inflatable decorations or light shows synced to musical accompaniment, and draw thousands of visitors from nearby towns or even the other side of the state.
As much fun as the displays bring to the audiences, they also serve a more serious purpose: raising donations for food banks and other local charities.
“Last year we brought in 2,000 pounds of food and $1,200 in cash, all for the Plainville Food Pantry,” said Mark Blethen, who with his wife, April, turns his family home in Plainville into Scooby House every holiday season.
“It’s the best feeling in the world when you start totaling it up and you see how much you’ll be able to help people out,” Blethen said.
Elaborate displays like the Blethens’ are offered free in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and frequently become an annual holiday tradition for visitors. The hosts charge no admission, but usually accept food and cash donations for charities in their communities.
That was the model followed for decades by the late Rita Giancola, who was the grande dame of the holiday season in central Connecticut. From 1978 to 2015, Giancola decked out her Lexington Street home in New Britain with thousands and thousands of outdoor lights and rows upon rows of plastic lawn Santas, reindeer, drummer boys and more.
Her home became known as Christmas House, and the local Salvation Army, the food pantry at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and the Prudence Crandall Center all benefitted at the end of each December when she’d hand over thousands of pounds of food that visitors had left in collection boxes.
Despite worsening arthritis, Giancola put up the massive Christmas display every year into her early 90s, saying that it was important to keep helping people who need a hand.
“When we were kids, we had nothing. My mother had 10 kids and died when she was 38, my father never took care of us — when other people helped out, I was so appreciative of anything they did for us,” she told a visitor in 2013. “Now we help others.”
This year, the families who assembled over-the-top holiday light displays are asking visitors to leave nonperishable food items in collection boxes on their lawns.
Most of the displays are intended for motorists who either park or drive slowly past; the Blethens invite visitors to tour their backyard show by foot.
In Windsor, Jason Santos also invites people to walk through his outdoor display of illuminated Santas, reindeer, elves, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, characters from “Frozen” and “Minions,” as well as a large inflatable firetruck and train. Santos’s display collects food and monetary donations for the Windsor Food & Fuel Bank.
“He’s such a nice guy, he puts on this beautiful holiday showcase and every year he builds more and more. He’s just amazing,” said Laura Soll, a senior board member of the food and fuel bank. “What he does is a way that the community can see how anyone can make a difference in the lives of their neighbors.”
Most of the displays end on Christmas Day or just before, and all may suspend operations in cases of severe weather. The operators ask all visitors to be considerate of neighbors and avoid making loud noise or blocking driveways.
A sampling of holiday-themed homes in the region:
Windsor: Jason Santos’ Christmas display at 25 Tiffany Drive, opens nightly from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Plainville: April and Mark’s Cartoon Christmas Display at 174 N. Washington St., open Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m.
Plainville: Joshua’s Christmas Display at 15 Hillscrest Road, open Sundays to Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10:30 p.m.
Stafford: Lights on Magauran Dr. at 4 Magauran Drive, open nightly through Dec. 31 with 19-minute light and music shows at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m.
Bristol: Lights on Rosewood at 111 Rosewood Drive, open Thursdays to Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m.
Glastonbury: Lights on Eastbury Pond at 39 Fisher Hill Road, open nightly through Dec. 31 from 4:45 to 10:30 p.m. Visitors are advised not to watch from Manchester Road, but instead to park at Eastbury Pond.
