RJ Hamster
🎄 It’s me, the holiday lights lady
Read in browser Your Week with AZCentralA SPOTLIGHT ON THE JOURNALISM YOUR SUBSCRIPTION HELPS BRING TO LIFE.Fri Dec 19 2025  Wendy Killeen | Digital Producer@WendellKHi, readers!I’m Wendy Killeen, or “the holiday lights lady” this time of year. Since at least 2013, I’ve been helping coordinate our map of holiday lights displays to see around the Phoenix area.Each year, I start thinking about holiday lights in August, leaving my coworkers shaking their heads. But planning ahead is key.The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com‘s annual map of over-the-top holiday lights is a tradition for many families in greater Phoenix. The Republic map also serves as a fundraiser for Season for Sharing, the newspaper’s annual campaign to help kids, families and the elderly.Each year, our partners at Arizona Community Foundation create a holiday lights entry form and the public submit details, including addresses. A story is then published online and in the newspaper. And I send an email to my regular folks who enter each year. More than 100 displays are entered each year. One year, we had a record 121.Each entry means a $15 donation to Season for Sharing. Now in its 32nd year, that campaign has raised more than $75 million for Arizona nonprofits. Last year, we raised and gave away $1.3 million to more than 156 nonprofits across Arizona that boost education, help children and families and support older adults.Descriptions are edited, map coordinates are entered and little red bulbs begin multiplying on the map. Entries are translated into Spanish by Silvia Solis and Claudia Núñez.Submitters send photos and videos. And sometimes, I discover inspiring stories like the Chandler man who fought cancer while continuing his annual Christmas light show, the Phoenix family who just won the “Great Christmas Light Fight” and the Valley neighborhood display that’s synced up to music. Happy holidays from me and all of us at The Arizona Republic!Use our map to see the best Christmas light displaysHere’s where you can see more than 100 great Christmas light displays in the Phoenix area this year. Find one near you with our holiday lights map.READ MORE Sign up for the news you wantExclusive newsletters are part of your subscription, don’t miss out! We’re always working to add benefits for subscribers like you.SEE ALL NEWSLETTERS âž” |
