On the Grand Strand, Christmas and holiday-related events abound. They run the gamut from theatrical extravaganzas, parades, to visits with Santa Claus, holiday shopping craziness, and ugly sweater parties galore.
But can you imagine Christmas without lights?
Annual light shows are a big deal. And there’s so much more to them than meets the eye. The individuals involved with planning, setup and execution of these events spend long hours in the process – ironing out potential bugs and meeting any challenges long before they throw the first switch for public consumption.
Take a peek under the hood as the folks involved with five area light shows shed some light on the subject.
Going into its fifth year, Myrtle Beach’s Winter Wonderland at the Beach has held attendees in thrall with a stunning mile-long lights display along the oceanfront Myrtle Beach Boardwalk. This holiday festival also includes entertainment, a tree lighting event, appearances by Santa, a holiday market and so much more.
For City of Myrtle Beach Special Events Supervisor Troy Marron, the planning process involved with the Oceanfront Lights Display is a continuous process.
“It starts for the next year before we put out this year’s displays,” he says. “We start putting up the lights in October. I’m already working on next year’s lights, with additions and all that – so it’s about a linear 18 months.”
Marron is putting out items he ordered last January.
This year, attendees can expect approximately a mile of the oceanfront to be lit along the Boardwalk from the 2nd Avenue Pier to the 14th Avenue Pier. The lighting does not run in a constant thread but rather incorporates various components.
“There are different fixtures,” Marron says. “There’s reindeer, presents, ornaments – all kinds of things. There are usually a couple of big pieces that create the theme for each block, and smaller pieces to go with that theme.”
Examples of such themes include marching soldiers, Old Man Winter and Reindeer Lane.
Speakers placed along the length of the walk enhance the experience with holiday music.
Marron says he’s got a four-person special events crew, but this work is in addition to its other duties. He also gets help from the City of Myrtle Beach’s Parks, Recreation & Sports Tourism department.
This year, expect 40 new pieces, large and small, and a theme changeup in one section.
“Last year, we added a 22-foot walk-through ornament,” he says. “We’re adding an ornament theme around that. We have about 12-15 new pieces going in there. “
For Marron, staying on top of the weather is a challenge. He recalled a storm a couple of years ago in mid-December that made it necessary to remove some large displays on the beach side.
“There were specific places between 9th Avenue North and Plyler Park where we had to take down two of the biggest pieces we had so they didn’t get washed away.”
At the end of the day, the vigilance is well worth it.
“It’s a beautiful walk,” Marron says. “It’s really nice to see families out there, walking the light show.”
The MarshWalk Wonderland of Lights in Murrells Inlet features thousands of holiday lights, illuminated arches set to music, photo op areas, a 20-foot LED Christmas tree at the end of Veterans Pier and much more.
Now in its fourth year, the event is presented by the eight restaurants making up the MarshWalk group: Bovine’s, Wahoo’s Fish House, Drunken Jack’s, Creek Ratz, Dead Dog Saloon, The Claw House, The Wicked Tuna and Sloppy Jose’s Cantina and Seafood Grill.
MarshWalk Group spokesperson Christina Burzler says planning starts six months in advance for what the show is going to look like. For the onsite installation the process starts by November first at the latest.
“Our light show is multidimensional,” she says. “A huge installation crew comes in, starts doing the arches first – and then of course moves on to the bigger items.”
Like Marron in Myrtle Beach, Burzler says weather is always a concern.
“We’re very weather dependent because everything is outdoors,” she notes. “We factor in enough time for installation and troubleshooting to allow a buffer in case of an act of nature or if anything technical goes wrong – so we can still meet all of our deadlines.”
The music lineup that is synchronized with the lights changes every year, according to Burzler.
“We go through hundreds of songs and programs and choose upbeat music,” she says. “The more upbeat the music is, the better the show – so we do a mix between trending music because our young people love that – and some of the traditional music as well.”
The light show starts on Black Friday and runs through December 31. Other components of the MarshWalk Wonderland of Lights include a Santa’s Village (through December 21), vendors on Saturday nights, holiday character interactions, and more.
“We’re the only free light show on the South Strand,” Burzler explains. “I think that’s what a lot of families love about it. If on the spur of the moment you want to do something, you can hop in the car and come down here.”
Every year during the holidays, Brookgreen Gardens in Georgetown County is transformed into an illuminated nocturnal dreamscape with its Nights of a Thousand Candles event. Walk garden paths amid a jaw-dropping collection of American figurative sculpture illuminated by thousands of hand-lit candles and millions of sparkling lights. Enjoy strolling holiday entertainers, live music, warm cider, food, and more.
“It takes roughly three months to do the whole process,” says Claire Elia, Brookgreen’s assistant manager of public exhibits. “There are prep projects that happen behind the scenes in the months leading up, but we start the actual installation of the lights after Labor Day.”
Nights of a Thousand Candles – or NOTC – is going into its 26th year.
The starting point for the eventual grandeur is, of course, electricity.
“This includes 40-50 power boxes on property and any number of power cords that come off each of those boxes,” Elia says. “It could be 10 or 20, depending on what each box is rated for, and that’s where we start – running all of that power out to the different areas of the garden where it needs to go.”
During NOTC season, Elia says the public exhibits crew grows to 12 people – including full-time permanent staff and full-time seasonal staff. Volunteers also play a key role, and that number could be as high as 25 per day during setup.
Elia notes that with the use of boom lifts comes the challenge of maneuvering them around the property and positioning them into tight spots without too much damage to the grounds.
“Obviously, you’re going to have an impact no matter what, and we hate having any negative impact on the land or the plantings,” she says. “Our horticulture department works very hard with what they do, so we try not to mess up their work.”
For any electrical work, safety is the watchword. This is doubly so with water-based installations.
“It’s about being super careful about how you float them.” Elia says. “Whatever you are affixing on top of the water is tethered with cables and then run between each area that you are lighting – and tying them to wood planks so that they are not completely submerged.”
When all is said and done, it might be time to throw a party, but Elia says everyone might be ready to take a little nap instead.
“We might be tired, but it’s a very rewarding kind of tired,” she says.
Instead of citing one installation or another as a favorite, Elia says it is more gratifying to see how everybody’s hands go into the project.
“I think the whole event – and what we accomplish as a group – is the best part.”
The Conway Celebration of Lights is a drive-through holiday attraction that features thousands of lights over approximately one mile through historic Downtown Conway.
The event began in 2016.
June Wood, the City of Conway’s public information officer, says the concept behind the event was to bring in a light show that felt like Conway – with Conway-specific elements.
“At the entrance to the light show, there are two of the City Hall clocks, so there are pieces throughout the route that have historic landmarks of the city,” she says. “The City Hall clock is an iconic part of Conway. We have animals that are specific to our area – alligators, rabbits and little features that really pull in what it means to be in Conway.”
Highlighting the Conway-centric vibe was vital. But there are pieces along the way that are essential to the holidays and Christmas, like a “12 Days of Christmas” element and more.
Wood says the initial planning stage begins as early as January.
“It’s a long process for us,” she says. “We have several departments involved in the set-up and execution of the light show. Our Conway Parks and Recreation Department operates it, their facilities staff sets it up, the Construction Services Department makes sure that our electrical needs are met – and the Conway Police Department does all of the security and safety.”
It typically takes 60 days to set up the light show.
As with Burzler in Murrells Inlet and Marron in Myrtle Beach, Wood says concerns about the weather are always top-of-mind.
In 2018, the event was canceled as a result of damage from Hurricane Florence.
“Our show is in one of the most flood-prone areas of the city. We have to be aware of weather conditions and be prepared at a moment’s notice to remove all of it so that it doesn’t get damaged,” Wood states.
But as with other folks putting together these events, it’s all worth it.
“Christmas and the holidays in general mean a lot to us, and they mean a lot to our community,” she says. “Every year, we want to make sure we make it special to families – and we’re excited for another Christmas season to come.”
This holiday season marks 10 years that the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex has presented The Great Christmas Light Show, a drive-through experience featuring millions of lights, lands, animated displays, a Santa’s Village and more – including a petting zoo and a train ride.
Kimi Walters, manager of parks and public grounds for the City of North Myrtle Beach and Jacob Hitchcock, public grounds supervisor, are at the forefront of this annual transformation. They’re particularly excited about a 92-acre expansion to the complex, which will allow them an even larger canvas on which to create their illuminated magic.
Walters says the project is now handled in-house, where in the past a consultant was involved.
“It allows for our own designs and basically what we want,” she says. “Jacob and I design the pieces and the lands [themed areas inside the complex] and we take them to our parks and public grounds division – and we decide together what we can make happen for the year.”
According to Hitchcock, the setup typically begins in mid-to-late June or early July, depending on other variables around the park.
“We’ll start going up – doing our things in the air – for example, our trusses or our light poles. We’ll get those strung up and put our pieces on top of the light poles while the grass is growing like wildfire,” Hitchcock says. “We’ve got to keep mowing that and keep it looking good, so we try to work up in the air to begin with and then we’ll go way down to the ground as it gets cooled off.”
Music is a key component to this experience, and there is a radio station onsite for attendees to enjoy Christmas tunes as they drive through. There’s also a Music Land, an area dedicated to lights synchronized with music.
“Our village tree at Santa’s Village is also synchronized up with music,” Hitchcock says.
Because the park remains in regular operation throughout, there are certain challenges, according to Walters.
“Everything is up on poles or trusses. It’s about being able to get that stuff up while still managing ball tournaments and festivals,” she says. “The same crew that does all of the special events also does the light show. Right now, we have 32 staff members. Seven of those are full-time.”
With all of their hard work every year, there’s a payoff.
“We also work the light show, so we’re there during the operation,” Walters says. “When you see the kids hanging out of their cars – out of the moon roof – and just seeing their faces, it makes all of the ‘fun torture’ worthwhile. It’s a satisfying process we go through to get this light show up.”
WINTER WONDERLAND AT THE BEACH / OCEANFRONT LIGHTS DISPLAY
MARSHWALK WONDERLAND OF LIGHTS
NIGHTS OF A THOUSAND CANDLES
CONWAY CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS
THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT SHOW
