Everett's Best Christmas Light Show: Irwin Family Lights
Editor’s Note: Originally published December 20, 2018. But don’t worry; the Irwin Family Lights are still going strong in 2023!
Paul Irwin enjoys the spirit of the Christmas season. He has always admired decorations that transform homes into winter wonderlands full of bright lights and yuletide magic— but his admiration had been from afar. That is until his wife, Danielle, enlisted him to help make their South Everett home more festive during the holidays nearly a decade ago. Without hesitation, the software engineer took it as a challenge to turn a laborious task into a captivating project, which has since evolved into a full-on visual and audio holiday extravaganza known as ‘Irwin Family Lights.’
“My wife liked decorating, but I didn’t so much,” said Paul. “So, I wanted to find a way to make it interesting for me.”
Before winning our “Everett’s Best Christmas Lights” contest in 2017, the Irwin’s Christmas display had a fairly modest beginning. Paul began the journey into the pantheon of Everett’s must-see holiday attractions by learning about lights that could be manipulated and controlled with software.
After several years of using lights that allowed him, Danielle, and their two young children to create fun patterns, Paul’s passion for technology and innovation led him to coordinate and operate a light show to the cadence of his family’s favorite holiday music.
“Being a software engineer has helped. I’ve always been interested in hardware and software and computers controlling something in the physical world,” said Paul.
Paul and Danielle Irwin // Nick Shekeryk
This season, Irwin Family Lights consists of 216 models (such as snowflakes and individual strands of lights) and 14,845 controllable lights—all intricately synchronized to a 40-minute, 14-song mix of eclectic Christmas music (featuring an introduction from Paul and Danielle’s daughters).
The sounds can be experienced through a speaker playing in their yard, or from the comfort of your vehicle by tuning the radio to 87.9 FM while watching the show.
Though Irwin Family Lights has grown in popularity and has become a favorite among local Christmas enthusiasts, perhaps the most impressive thing about the show is the family’s year-round commitment to bringing their vision to life.
Paul and Danielle spend many weekends throughout the year planning and creating props for both their elaborate Halloween display and Christmas light show. A few of the latest additions to the light show—five starlit trees— were conceptualized by Danielle and constructed by Paul this past summer.
After Halloween ends, the Irwin’s work tirelessly through the week of Thanksgiving to get everything in place for their Christmas light show.
Much time, thought, and effort go into creating the Irwin’s light show, but seeing the expressions of pure joy and excitement on the faces of their children and admirers from all over Everett make it all worthwhile.
“People have left handwritten notes under our doormat,” said Paul. “Our house is becoming a tradition for other families to see. It’s kind of neat.”
Irwin Family Lights
10513 27th Dr. SE
Everett, WA 98208
The show runs from now until New Year’s Eve from 5-10 p.m., nightly. For more information, check out the family’s Facebook page
Nick has a professional background rich in digital marketing and media. His work has appeared in The Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Post-Standard, and on MSN.com, among others. He has a graduate degree in journalism from Syracuse University, as well as creative writing and philosophy degrees from Seattle University. He grew up in Woodinville and spends his free time playing and coaching baseball, running half marathons, and seeing as much live music as possible.
