40,000 lights, thousands of visitors each Christmas at Lights on Burwick, Middle Park

Lights on Burwick organisers are celebrating 10 years as one of Brisbane’s most popular Christmas displays, recalling a rave in their street, thanks to their singing and dancing lights.

The Dornhart home at 4 Burwick Close, Middle Park, has lit up for another festive season, with their “dancing Christmas lights” bringing in thousands of visitors to their street.

Lights on Burwick is a must-visit on this year’s Christmas light list, with a 45-minute show of LED lights singing and dancing to both much-loved Christmas carols and some of the biggest hits of the year.

Richard Dornhart is celebrating 10 years of Lights on Burwick, with more than 40,000 lights, new props and more peppermint-scented bubbles.

“You don’t get an opportunity to engage with this many people, we have so many that come back every year, it’s really awesome just to have the opportunity to work with and provide something in a community like this,” he said.

Lights on Burwick. Picture: Danica Clayton

Mr Dornhart, wife Melissa and their daughters Kailee, 19, and Jordyn, 17, said over the years they’d had to block off the street because of the amount of visitors.

“(The girls) love it and their friends get involved; they’ve even done school projects around it,” Mr Dornhart said.

“I love it,” daughter Jordyn agreed.

“When we were 10 or 11, my sister and I used to knock on car windows and hand out hundreds of candy canes.”

It has taken Mr Dornhart nearly three months to set up the display, working 9am to 5pm each weekend since September to be ready in time for Christmas.

The home is also an entrant in this year’s KIIS 973 KIISMAS Lights Competition.

Lights on Burwick. Picture: Danica Clayton

“(We’re) in the tens of thousands of dollars now – we’re essentially running the same equipment … it’s not overly complex technology, you just got to know a bit about electricity and a bit about networking,” Mr Dornhart said.

Some of the sequences taking the stage at the residence include Christmas songs such as Wham!’s Last Christmas, as well as favourite hits from Moana, The Greatest Showman and even a Barbie nod to celebrate the 2023 hit movie.

“One year we had a Bluey sequence, which was so much fun because all the kids went crazy,” Jordyn said.

The family have continued to light up the street for a good cause, supporting the Starlight Foundation for eight years.

Lights on Burwick. Picture: Danica Clayton

“What’s really cool is it started with just a few houses supporting a cause and now lots of people are supporting charities,” Jordyn said.

The Dornharts are also supporting the Bowel Cancer Foundation this year and have a blue-ribbon LED light front and centre on their fence.

“A friend of mine has stage four cancer, so we’re kind of splitting between the two charities.

“Charity has been a big part of why we started entering the (KIIS 973 KIISMAS Lights Competition) because we wanted to get as many people here as possible,” Mr Dornhart said.

They also take part in X Lights Around the World, where two songs are chosen each year and thousands of houses across the world synchronise their houses and record their sequence to these songs.

Lights on Burwick supports the Starlight Foundation and the Bowel Cancer Foundation. Picture: Danica Clayton

Over the past decade, the Dornharts recalled many favourite memories including a rave starting in their cul-de-sac and even large buses visiting the street.

“We get a number of aged-care facilities bringing people in every year,” Mr Dornhart said.

“It’s like a cruise ship sometimes – we’d get waves of hundreds coming off buses or from cars, then it drops off for a bit and boom, another wave.”

However, Mr Dornhart said the family could not have continued to do the display over the past 10 years without their neighbours.

“They are awesome and have been so supportive of us, even when there are thousands in our street dancing and singing,” he said.