WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Magical Lights Adventure opened up Thanksgiving weekend to light up Northwest Arkansas with the Christmas spirit.
In its first year, the drive-thru experience featured a 300-foot-long light tunnel with recognizable characters like the Grinch, emojis, and even Bluey, the widely-loved children's cartoon dog.
The new holiday experience came together thanks to JB Hedrick and Chris Berryhill. Hedrick explained that it took thousands of man-hours to put the display together.
"We've got a team that does most of the sequencing ... it can take up to 80 hours just to sequence a 30-minute song. We have over a million lights, 58 controllers, and 300 receivers that run off of those controllers. I think we've got 400 different props doing their own things. Ten moving heads that dance in the sky," Hedrick said.
"All the lights also are in sync with one another. So when you're listening on the radio, you'll see the lights dancing, the entire show is dancing to the beat of the music," Berryhill explained.
"I can remember taping Christmas lights to my wall when I was a kid and straining to stream together what lights I could find in my mom's house," Hedrick said.
Hedrick explained that you can only do so much with static C9 lights, and found a way to grow during the pandemic in 2021.
"I started researching that and had a lot of time that year. So I kind of got into pixel lights," Hedrick said.
Berryhill explained that he always wanted to create his own light display because of a Christmas tradition with his family in Nashville.
"Anytime we visit them for Christmas, we would go to the drive-thru show down there," Hedrick said. "That's where my dream was kind of born several years ago. And JB and I just connected last Christmas and thought it would be epic to bring this to Northwest Arkansas."
Berryhill said they brainstormed last Christmas and began the business in February.
"Then it never stopped. We've been working on it that entire time up until now with the help of many employees," Berryhill said.
"It's a lot of sleepless nights or nights with four hours of sleep ... up before the sun comes up and up until after the sun goes down," Hedrick said.
While you go through the Magical Lights Adventure, Hedrick's work in the display may seem familiar. That's because the show grew from his Lights on Driftwood display that he's hosted in his front yard for years.
"I had awesome neighbors that accepted the lights ... it's a lot for people to have cars outside of your house for six weeks straight, but it's all been a good transition."
Hedrick's childhood passion continues to grow and Berryhill brought family tradition to Northwest Arkansas as the partners now present their lights.
"When you hear those kids out the window just with so much joy on their face ... that makes it all worthwhile to me," Hedrick said. "It's an experience you can't explain, you have to be here in person to see it."
"I hope this sparks new traditions for tons of families in the community and helps add to this Christmas spirit," Berryhill said.
The show opened on No. 25 and happens every night through New Year's from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and they stay open an extra half-hour on Friday and Saturday.
Each vehicle costs $25 with a season pass available at $75. The Drink Wagon and Christmas Light Helicopter Tour are located just outside the fairgrounds available for visitors. To pre-purchase tickets you can visit their website here.
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