CAMPTON HILLS – After 15 years, Larsen’s Light Show – with its swirling blinking sparkling red, yellow, blue and purple lights pulsing in the dark to music – will come to an end at 42W891 Beith Road, Campton Hills, when this year's show ends Jan. 3.
But do not despair, Christmas light lovers, as Brian Larsen said he is looking to set up an even bigger display at another location without the traffic problems, neighbor complaints and – hopefully – without viewers abusing his kids when they’re trying to direct traffic.
“I’m good when people attack me,” Larsen said. “I can take it. I can’t make everyone happy. I get it. But attacking my kids – my own kids – that’s personal. That’s crossing the line.”
The free light show is set up at his house every night from Thanksgiving to just after New Year from, 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday to Sunday.
“I appreciate that everyone appreciates what I did. That part I’m very grateful for,” Larsen said.
Larsen detailed his reasons in a lengthy Facebook post, one of which is the verbal attacks his kids and traffic controllers have received recently from attendees.
He also hopes to escape the village of Campton Hills that is “fighting and messing with me all year long.”
“They don’t want the show,” Larsen said.
A voicemail message left for Village Administrator Ron Searl was not returned.
Larsen said he’s working out the logistics to relocate the show.
“It would be the exact same house and handle all the traffic with … double the lights, water features, fire features all blended into the same show,” Larsen said. “It will be more spectacular than at Vegas or Disneyland.”
His dream location would have a parking lot that is tiered so no car will block the view for someone else.
His current show has 250,000 pixels. The new display would have nearly 3 million pixels, he said.
For the uninitiated, pixels are individual lights that can change color, which are different from regular Christmas lights, because each can change on its own even while wired together.
“I’m building a house with the exact same footprint of what we have and reuse everything in the exact same order without having to redo everything,” Larsen said. “I can come out dressed as Santa off the roof with sparklers.”
There will be more safety features, platforms and a stop-and-go light, he said.
“People don’t realize that for the last 15 years, I’ve not had Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve or Christmas with my family, I’ve been working every single night … where I create this,” Larsen said.
Still, with all the accolades and compliments on social media, Larsen said he is brought to tears at the idea of all the people his light show has touched.
“It’s overwhelming. I’m glad people did enjoy what we did,” Larsen said.
That’s why closing it down at the end of this year’s show “is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.”
“I knew it could not go on forever where it’s at. I just want the end of this year to go smoothly,” Larsen said. “People should realize that Sunday through Thursday is a zero wait time.”
Campton Police Chief Steven Millar said the only real issues his department has had is with a few of Larsen’s neighbors calling to complain.
“They’re trying to have a peaceful life and the lights are in their house all the time,” Millar said. “People are using their driveways to turn around and to urinate on their lawns and in the driveways.”
As to issues with the village, Millar said those are only the things Larsen has done without permits.
“You can’t just put signs up. You have to have a permit for that. You cannot put up a driveway or parking lot without a permit,” Millar said.
Victoria Lunacek, a neighbor who lives a mile away from Larsen’s house, said not until the last two years has there been a lot of problems with backed-up traffic blocking the driveway.
“I work nights and I was 15 minutes late for work because nobody would get out of the way,” Lunacek said. “It’s usually the weekend. Friday and Saturday are the worst. It doesn’t surprise me that there’s 5,000 cars there.”
The driveway is marked, there’s mailboxes, the lights are on outside the house, but in addition to blocking the driveway, drivers go down the driveway and turn around on her lawn, she said.
“I’ve watched cars do u-turns in the middle of the road and almost cause car accidents,” Lunacek said. “They’ve driven around barricades.”
Still, Lunacek said she will miss seeing the light show.
“I watch it from the driveway almost every night,” Lunacek said. “I love that show, even with all the craziness.”
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