West Seattle Christmas lights: Treats at Helmstetler Spectacular

(WSB photo from 11/26/11 ‘opening night,’ with all the lights turned on between shows)
If you’ll be out looking at lights this Christmas Eve/Day or New Year’s Eve, Helmstetler Family Spectacular mastermind Jim Winder says you’re invited to stop by the famous music-synched show for free hot cocoa 6-9 pm – and on Christmas Eve, they’ll also have free mini-cupcakes donated by Diva Espresso (while they last). The show itself is free, but they’ve been collecting donations for local causes – here’s a Facebook photo of their first delivery to the West Seattle Food Bank; bring nonperishable food when you stop by and look for the bin right in front of the house, which is at 3908 SW Charlestown, across from the water tower. It’s of course also on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map, which we’re updating with new additions nightly. Find out more about the show on its official website, which includes videos from the past two years (we have a couple clips from this year’s opening night, November 26th, in our coverage).

3 Replies to "West Seattle Christmas lights: Treats at Helmstetler Spectacular"

  • JulieB December 21, 2011 (10:45 am)

    Does anyone know if the music is synced with a local radio station again this year? Thanks in advance :)

    • WSB December 21, 2011 (10:47 am)

      It’s not a local radio station but there is a frequency posted, I believe 101.9 (follow the link to the westseattlelights.com site), where you can hear the music in your car when you’re in the vicinity – TR

  • Santa December 22, 2011 (11:16 am)

    Many people believe that the lights are “dancing” to music from a Radio Station playing Christmas Music…but this is not the case. I pick all the songs that are played and have to “tell” the lights when to go on and off (via a software program). We have 560 different channels hooked up to over 700 strings of lights…meaning I can basically tell each individual string when to go on and off during a song. Usually it takes about 4-6 hours per 30 seconds of song to program.

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