MOKARI STREET LIGHTS · NORTH RICHMOND NSW

Christmas lights that dance to the music

Every December our house on Mokari Street comes alive with more than 15,000 computer-controlled lights, every one of them choreographed to music. Tune your car radio to FM 91.5 for the music in full stereo, listen from our speakers, or bring a picnic blanket and settle in for the show.

How to watch

Watch the videos

WHAT IS COMPUTER-CONTROLLED LIGHTING?

Every single light, on cue

Ordinary Christmas lights are either on or off. In a computer-controlled show every bulb is a pixel: a tiny RGB LED with its own chip, so each one can be set to any colour and brightness many times a second.

I design every song on my computer, laying out effects beat by beat against the music. The finished sequences go to a small show computer that sends the lighting data out to controllers around the yard and plays the music to an FM transmitter, so the lights and the sound stay perfectly in step.

Inside the megatree at Mokari Street Lights

Pixels

Thousands of individually controlled RGB LEDs on strips, nodes and custom-built props, driven by controllers spread around the yard.

Sequencing

Each song is hand-built in xLights, the free sequencing software used by light-show hobbyists around the world. A three-minute song can take many hours to get just right.

The show player

Falcon Player (FPP) runs the show each night, plays the playlist and links to Remote Falcon so visitors can choose the next song.

FROM A FEW LIGHTS TO A LIGHT SHOW

How I got here

Like most people, I started with a few strings of lights. Twenty-odd years later it has grown into a full musical light show, and it is still growing.

2002 · The first lights

Plain strings of Christmas lights on the house, like plenty of others in the street.

2017 · Going animated

I joined AusChristmasLighting and went along to the Picton mini seminar. That was the start of pixels, controllers and lights set to music.

2020 · Building my own props

A 100W laser cutter, bought direct from China, meant I could design and cut my own props, from spiral trees to snowflakes.

Today · A full show

Megatrees, a matrix screen, moving heads and singing props, all sequenced to music, with visitors choosing the songs through Remote Falcon.

Always · A work in progress

Every year brings new props and new sequences. I am always happy to help people who are just starting out in the hobby.

THE PROPS

Meet the stars of the show

Some props carry the show, some sing along and some show pictures. Here is how they all fit together.

Megatrees

HERO PROP

Two megatrees with star toppers stand on either side of the display and take turns leading the show.

How I built it

Fireworks Tree

HERO PROP · NEW

Pixel spheres and meteor sticks that burst and fall like real fireworks.

Read the build log

Spiral trees & candy canes

YARD PROPS

Spiral trees and candy canes line the path, adding colour and movement close to the audience.

My spiral trees

Arches & spirals

YARD PROPS

Pixel arches chase across the garden while the spiral trees twist with the beat.

Roof outlines

HOUSE OUTLINE

Every edge of the roof is outlined in pixels, framing the whole display.

My roof outlines

Hero props

The big centrepieces that take turns grabbing your attention: two megatrees with star toppers, the Ice Princess, the Fireworks Tree, the matrix screen, the moving heads, two EFlake46 snowflakes and the Waratah.

Singing props

Faces that sing the words of each song. Four singing bulbs, each in its own Wiggles colour, plus three singing trees outlined in blue for a male singer and pink for a female singer.

Matrices

A grid of pixels that works like a giant screen, showing pictures, words and video in time with the music. Songs in the With Video category make the most of it.

NEW AND IN DEVELOPMENT

Always something new in the workshop

The show is an ongoing project. These are the props and ideas I am working on now.

An Australiana theme

Christmas in Australia deserves its own sound. I am building an Australiana playlist alongside the Christmas favourites, with props to match.

The Waratah

New this year. By day it looks like a lotus, then in the show it morphs into a Waratah, the NSW floral emblem, set to an old Australian Christmas carol.

The Fireworks Tree

Pixel spheres on meteor sticks, sequenced to explode like fireworks. Read how I built it.

COME AND WATCH

Enjoy the show your way

Listen in full stereo

Pull up in Mokari Street, turn off your engine and tune your car radio to FM 91.5 to hear every song in full stereo, perfectly in time with the lights. Or wind the window down and listen from our speakers out the front.

On a picnic blanket

Bring a blanket, a thermos and the kids, find a spot on the grass and enjoy the music from our speakers.

Be a good neighbour

Please keep driveways clear, keep the noise down and drive slowly. There may be little ones about.

A family watching Mokari Street Lights from a picnic blanket

Show times

Monday to Thursday: 8:00 to 10:00pm
Friday to Sunday: 8:00 to 11:00pm
Christmas Eve: 7:30 to 11:30pm

Season dates to be confirmed each year.

Christmas lights are for kids, both young and old

The show supports the Starlight Children's Foundation. Together, visitors have helped raise more than $3,000 over four years. Thank you!

PICK THE NEXT SONG

You choose what plays next

The show runs in jukebox mode through Remote Falcon, a free website that lets visitors request songs from their phone. No app is needed.

Scan the QR code on the sign out the front with your phone camera. It opens the Mokari Street Lights page, where you can browse the song list and pick a favourite. Your request joins the queue, and the announcement sign shows what is playing now.

Please note: requests only work when you are here at the show. Remote Falcon checks that your phone is on site before it accepts a song.

Open Remote Falcon

QR code to request songs at Mokari Street Lights

This is the QR code on our sign. Scan it at the show to choose a song.

1 · Scan the QR code

Point your phone camera at the QR code on the sign out the front. You need to be at the show for requests to work.

2 · Choose a song

Browse the list, including songs With Video and With Moving Heads, and tap the one you want.

3 · Watch it play

Your song joins the queue. Keep an eye on the sign to see when it is your turn.

VIDEOS

This year’s sequences

Pick a song below to load it into the player, then press play. Use the filters to find the kids’ favourites or the songs with video, and tap More information to read what to look out for.

Loading the show...