Gallery • 4 Photos

McKenna Gaskins

The Kulik residence all lit up at night

While many people are questioning the safety of their holiday plans this year, one tradition remains solid in the small town of Eastampton. For over fifteen years, Kevin Kulik and his family have been spreading holiday cheer through their colorful and festive light display. This year, Kulik’s lights have brought joy to dozens of families who are not able to experience their normal holiday traditions.

“When I was a kid I grew up in Philadelphia,” say’s Kevin Kulik, the mastermind behind his family’s immersive holiday display. “Up in Northeast Philadelphia a gentleman decorated his house, and it almost reminded me of ‘It’s a Small World’ at Disney. He did it every year and it was just phenomenal. I figured once I got a house, I was going to do what I could. I started out with just static, regular lights, but every year I just added and added. And as I got into the hobby, and of course the internet, I learned a lot more things, and then I was able to animate all the lights.”

The Kuliks have been lighting up Durham Terrace in Eastampton for over fifteen years, gifting hundreds of families their light show over the holidays.  However, many people who come to watch this magnificent light show do not realize the hard work and dedication that goes into making this light show spectacular.

“Set up this year took a lot longer because it was just me. My son and my daughter used to help me when they lived at home. It took me, I’d say, about a good 40 hours to put it up. I’ll usually start after Halloween and then gradually I’ll start to put things up.”

Kulik has many working parts to this show including a mega tree made of PVC pipe and lights, an arsenal of homemade miniature trees, and huge snowflakes that line the Kuliks roof. Not only does Kulik set up the lights on the outside, he then has to program each individual part for his display. 

“We’re probably teetering on about 25,000 lights,” Kulik says with a smile. “It’s probably about 70 percent LED lights and about 30 percent incandescent lights. Each individual pixel has three LED lights in them; red, green, and blue. Then each of those lights are programmed so I can control those programs. The way it’s done through the controller, I can use up to about 16 million different colors.”

Programming each light is not a simple task.  It is meticulous and time-consuming, something people do not necessarily think about when parking on the street to view the Kuliks lights show.  

“A two-minute song, which is average now, and a lot of the longer songs I’ve edited down.  I would say about 12 to 15 hours of just programming. Because again, you have to program each individual light.”

Now one must beg the question: what does the Kulik’s electric bill look like?  They have some many moving parts to this show and they are on from sundown to 10 pm, their bill must be through the roof.  

“I’ve got to tell you, people think I’ve got a phenomenal electric bill. It may go up maybe $30 because the lights aren’t constantly burning, and it’s mainly LED lights. It’s not taking up as much electricity as people would think.”

Through all the hard work and dedication to this light spectacular, the Kulik’s have brought joy to over a hundred families from all over Burlington County.  The Kulik’s hope to continue this December tradition for as long as they possibly can.

“We were actually debating this year whether we can manage it anymore. It’s definitely a labor of love and it’s a lot of work and a lot of man-hours. But people coming and thanking us, that’s the payoff. During the summer time, I’ll have people riding their bikes with their kids, and this summer I had one kid that passed by and said, ‘That’s the Christmas house!’ Just like I had the memory, I like to give that back.”

The Kulik’s have not only passed on the tradition to many kids and the rest of their block, but they have also passed it onto their kids who have grown up and moved out.  Kulik’s daughter has a knack for lights just like her dad and has started her ventures into phenomenal Christmas lighting.  Their daughter has her own light display at her house in Mount Laurel.

“It’s a hobby for me, and I’m always working on it, you know?” said Kulik.” I just really love spreading the Christmas spirit and the Christmas cheer.”