If you are looking for an amazing Christmas light display to wow the kids, there's a house in Vermilion Parish that should be on your list.

The home is located in Meaux, right behind Meaux Elementary in the Beau Soliel subdivision.

The Merry Meaux Holiday Light Show is the brainchild of one Keith Kelly - someone very well-known to anyone in the entertainment field in Acadiana.

WHO IS KEITH KELLY?

Keith is a native of the New Orleans area, but he calls Vermilion Parish home now. He has been running lights at shows in Acadiana for over 25 years - actually, not just in Acadiana, as he frequently travels out of state to produce light shows.

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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I reached out to Keith to ask him a few questions about his brilliant Christmas light display (he does a huge Halloween show, too), so he gave me a little background.

WHY THE HUGE LIGHT SHOW?

As a child growing up in New Orleans, trips to see Al Copeland’s house and neighborhood all lit up were something I looked forward to each year. I remember barely being tall enough to see out the window of the vehicle. Just looking upward at the mansions and landscaping all so perfectly decorated.

Having so much experience in the concert/event lighting industry, Keith says that having an amazing Christmas display seemed second nature. He wanted his house to dance and sing and for people to enjoy it like he enjoyed the Copeland home.

Why can’t I make my house as awesome as a Festival International stage?!

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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Keith began to study pixel-controlled lighting displays a full year prior to turning his home into a Christmas Wonderland. He was able to take time to learn, prepare, design, and then begin to build his first display last year.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SET UP THE LIGHT SHOW?

Setup takes a few days. Just the lights that outline the house take a full day to sort, test, and then connect to their respective controllers. Lots and lots of up and down on the ladders.

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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The centerpiece “MegaTree” takes a day to sort the strands, test, and assemble. Everything is meticulously measured out to the inch so that the actual display mirrors the 3D rendering in the software.

Oh, so there's a computer involved. Go figure.

The software allows Keith to program the lights to create a show - because who wants plain blinking lights when those blinking lights could make a reindeer sing, right?

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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Did I mention that there was music that went with the light shows? The reindeer (created from lights, of course) actually mouth the words to the songs, as you'll see below in a video Keith sent.

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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When you visit the display, you can tune your radio to 92.3 and that will pipe the music directly into your vehicle. For those on foot, Keith has a speaker set up on the premises.

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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Another aspect of the show that I love is this: Keith gets the whole family involved.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE SONGS IN THE SHOW?

We as a family choose what songs we want. A few old standards are always a requirement. We can then add some fun pop songs or Christmas tunes sung by more modern artists. Adapting the lyrics of the song to show on the two singing reindeer usually takes about 2 hours per minute of lyrics.

Did you read that? It takes 2 hours per minute of lyrics. And Christmas songs can last anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes. Do the math - that's a lot of work!

Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
Photo courtesy of Keith Kelly
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Anyway, I know that it's a labor of love for Keith, as he loves his work, he loves his family, and he loves being able to bring joy to other families.

WHAT'S THE ADDRESS?

The official address is 12425 Beau Soleil Drive in Abbeville (70510). The unofficial address is "The Brightest House in Meaux". Here's Abigail telling us all about her family's Christmas light display:

To the Kelly family: Thank you for spreading Christmas Joy in Acadiana!!

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