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Lit up, down under

Lyndsey Melling, CanberraDecember 20, 2013

It started with a string of twinkling lights over the driveway. Now an Australian family has become two-time world record holders for their mind-boggling home display of multicolored Christmas lights.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Ae0e

There's a festive haze in the sky above the Richards family home in Canberra this December, caused by the glow of more than 500,000 LED bulbs.

The family first achieved the world record for the most Christmas lights on a residential property in 2011, but last year they were surpassed by a family in New York. Despite once vowing never to attempt it again, father David Richards took up the challenge to win the record back this year.

The lights have enthralled tens of thousands of festive season visitors and earned the Richards international media attention. The family gives the money they raise from visitors' donations to the charity SIDS and Kids, which researches the causes behind sudden infant death syndrome and supports affected families.