December is just off to a good start, but the Guinness record for the house with the most lights has already been broken. Located in Canberra, Australia, it is wrapped in 50 kilometers of wire.
More than half a million (502,165 to be exact) holiday lights are wrapped around the Richards' home in Canberra, Australia. Enough for a Guinness World Record and way too much for some angry neighbors. The record was announced already, believe it or not - on November 21. The Richards family entered the record book in 2011, but last year the coveted title was taken away from them by the New York family LaGrangeville. This year, David, his wife Janean Richards, thirteen-year-old Aidan and ten-year-old Caitlin tried again, stepped into action and set an absolute record with a lead of more than 150,000 "lights".
The Richards will open their home to the public every weekend, starting this weekend, while also raising money for charity. They were already successful in this two years ago, when tens of thousands of people visited their house in December, and together they donated 78,000 dollars to an organization that helps families who have lost a child.
Visitors are greeted by a welcome sign in front of Santa's house, and then they can walk under the arcades of lights, watch the changing colors and admire the 18-meter tree made of lights. Santa walks along the roof all the way to the chimney, there are also reindeer and Christmas music. A real adventure for all lovers of Christmas euphoria, some even come from the other side of the world to see the Richards house. According to father David, they have always loved Christmas (we sort of assumed that) and that most of their neighbors approve of the "show", but there are also those who have not spoken to them since the last record two years ago. Perhaps we can give them a little understanding too, because it's certainly not easy when the neighborhood turns into an amusement park over the holidays.
To make everything sparkle and shine as it should, David will need an additional generator. They did not state what the electricity costs were during this period, but this figure, like many others in this article, would certainly shock a little.
Anyway, Christmas rush is officially allowed with this event. Perhaps the Christmas house in Australia does not exactly coincide with that idyllic image, when the snow starts to fall and we warm ourselves with tea by the fireplace. But the record is broken, even with an iced Coke. And happy December can begin.
