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This Arlington house won the Interlochen’s Findlay Award in 2018. The award, named for founder Bob Findlay, is reserved for residents who have decorated in the neighborhood’s annual Christmas lights display for more than 30 years.
In this Arlington neighborhood, the Interlochen Christmas tradition has lived on for 50 years, but some neighbors have run out of holiday cheer.
Every year, the same Arlington neighborhood puts on Arlington Interlochen Christmas Lights for anyone to drive through and admire between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. for the week and a half leading up to Christmas Day. Traffic follows a set course through the neighborhood that lasts about an hour to complete.
This year, nearly 200 houses were completely decked out with inflatable Santas, candy cane arches and every color Christmas light imaginable.
The widely renowned tradition draws roughly 100,000 people each year. In 2024, Interlochen was the only Texas Christmas light spectacle to make People magazine’s top-rated neighborhood holiday decorations.
Some residents of the neighborhood are less thrilled about people crowding onto their streets. The main concern is not the onslaught of cars, it’s the attitude of the drivers.
One woman, appalled by the discourtesy, took to Facebook for a “not so gentle reminder” that people who live in the neighborhood need to get home.
“I don’t know if it’s because it’s really hot right now and people AREN’T in the Christmas season, but please let the residents of Interlochen get in their neighborhoods!!!! SO many people tonight were driving really stupid and not allowing us residents in! We put up a lot of lights and pay a lot in electricity for the Christmas spirit, and then you rip it away.”
Most places the event is advertised, directions specifically state visitors must stay to the right along the Intelochen Christmas Lights route. This way, emergency vehicles and residents can pass through without trouble.
In a comment on the original post, someone said it’s always been a nuisance trying to get home during the week and a half of Interlochen Christmas. Her suggestion? “Just move far away.”
Another woman said this year was the worst in the four years her family has participated.
“I couldn’t even pull into my own driveway the other evening,” she said in a comment. “There are people in bicycles weaving in between cars (dangerous) selling LED things and necklaces stopping traffic. I got ‘laughed’ at when I told them it was causing issues. So … I doubt very seriously that we will participate in this next year.”
It’s a sentiment that resonated with more than a few residents.
“I quit decorating for this reason,” another homeowner commented. “Not going to give me my courtesy, then I won’t give you one either.”
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Rachel Royster
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