A North Texas family whose holiday light display features 400 drones won ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight on Sunday, December 3.
The Ward family of Keller not only took home the trophy and $50,000 from the reality show contest, but did so by presenting the series' first-ever drone performance - a spectacle which host Carter Oosterhouse declared "changed the way Christmas can be displayed."
Spearheaded by Preston Ward, chief pilot of Sky Elements Drone Shows, the family's display included 20,000 pixel-pushed lights, eight moving heads, talking Christmas trees, and 400 drones that flew 400 feet in the air to create 300-foot wide images that could be seen for five miles, he said.
Preston Ward was joined in the efforts by his wife, Tara, their friend and Sky Elements colleague Tyler Johnson, and his wife, Taylor - “a group of best friends that have a passion for technology and lights,” they described themselves on the show. They said they spent months not only designing the animated drone show but securing licensing and approvals for it to fly.
On The Great Christmas Light Fight, four family homes across the country compete for holiday light glory. The Wards' episode was filmed in fall of 2022. They competed against families in Highlands Ranch, Colorado; New City, New York; and Chula Vista, California. (A Frisco homecompeted in 2021 but did not win.)
The Wards and their team members who worked on the winning show.Photo courtesy of Sky Elements Drone Shows
"Are you ready to take Christmas into the future?” they asked judge and host Oosterhouse when they revealed the display for the TV cameras.
The house and front yard illuminated first, with Christmas trees, candy canes, and Santa and his reindeer lighting up in a more traditional light show. A few seconds later, the drones rose high over the house, forming snowflakes, then morphing into presents, Santa coming out of a chimney, the words "Merry Christmas," and more.
Oosterhouse seemed genuinely awe-struck. "I don’t even know how to describe it because it's fluid and it's movement and it’s turning into so many different things," he said while watching it. "I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
Behind the scenes, they revealed to Oosterhouse how they use 3-D models to design the drone animations, program them to fly six feet apart, and map out where each one goes. The drones lift off from a field behind the house at an impressive 70 miles per hour.
The final image the drones created for Oosterhouse was of the Great Christmas Light Fight trophy the Wards were hoping to win.
In the end, it was really no contest.
“I wasn’t expecting to come to Keller, Texas, and see one of the most unique things this competition has ever seen,” Oosterhouse said on the show. “This was is so unique because it takes your senses over to another level. It’s so impressive.”
Preston Ward praised the hard work that each team member put in, to both design and execute the high-tech display. "This was such an incredible experience and I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else besides my best friends here,” he said upon accepting the trophy.
Lights through darkness
In an act of seasonal charity, the Wards are donating their $50,000 prize money to the Dallas Hope Mommies, a nonprofit that supports families coping with the loss of a child. The family became connected to the cause after the loss of their infant daughter Briley in 2020.
In an interview the day after the episode aired, Preston Ward revealed to CultureMap that the heart-wrenching backstory to their light show didn't make it on camera.
"I come from a family of Christmas crazies, if you will; several people in my family have done animated Christmas light displays at their house. My wife and I actually got engaged to an animated Christmas light display at my childhood home, so Christmas is definitely special to us," he said. "We said we would put up lights at our house when we had children. After we lost Briley, we decided to still put them up like we had planned for her first Christmas. So this show is in honor of her."
The public will get to see the as-seen-on-TV drone show for three nights only, December 8-10.Photo courtesy of Sky Elements Drone Shows
The Wards run an animated light show at their home, 5:30-11:30 pm nightly. Out of courtesy for the neighbors, they do not fly the drones every night.
They will, however, present their "seen on TV" drone show to the public for three nights, December 8-10, at 7 pm and 8:30 pm. The free, family-friendly show will take place at their home, 1729 Sawtooth Oak Trail, Keller (76248), with parking available at Northwood Church.
"The drone show we are running at the house this year was not publicly released until the episode aired, so it is technically 'new' as it the first time anyone will see this specific show," Ward says. "It’s basically a storybook with images and narration, so it’s definitely worth checking out one of the nights. Also, we will be debuting a new drone show over the house next weekend, as well."
Sky Elements (which was responsible for the Fort Worth Symphony's inaugural Concerts in the Garden drone shows last summer) is running dozens of holiday shows this season. But Ward stresses the number of "man hours" it still took to be able to put their winning performance together at their home.
"The lights alone take several physical hours of set up in addition to the design and programming," he says. "The nights we add drones require even more planning, physical set up, programming, and animation. We can’t do it without our family and friends, and we are so very thankful for them and our community for all the support."
Follow Preston Ward and Sky Elements on social media for more information and updates. For longer lists of the best Christmas light displays across DFW, go here and here.
The Wards' episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight (Season 11, Episode 2) is now streaming on Hulu.
