Well done! Let us know you found them all when you come to the show.
We’re the Hodgsons, from Cross Gates in Leeds. First comes Halloween, and the day after it ends we start building Christmas. Every light dances to music, it’s free to visit, and every coin in our bucket goes to Martin House Children’s Hospice. As a family we’ve raised over £65,000 for them so far.
Tap a photo to bring it to the front
The Halloween show runs Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. Tap a night to see the times.
The sensory session has gentler lighting and quieter background music, so you can walk through the garden at your own pace.
DirectionsOpening times, weather updates and behind-the-scenes from the build. Our Facebook page always has the latest news.
!Before you set off, have a quick look here. If we ever have to switch the lights off for a night, it’ll be posted on Facebook first.
Every light on our house is synced to the music. Here’s a tiny version to play with. Ours has over 60,000 lights; this one has a few hundred.
The lights only shine for a few weeks, but we’re working on them nearly all year. Here’s how it goes.
February to June
We think up ideas, prototype new projects and hunt free stuff groups for anything that could end up on the house.
July
All the controllers come in for a refresh, a clean and an update.
August
The network, power, speaker and XLR cables go out with the control boxes. Halloween props come out for testing and fixing, and the first ones go up on the house.
September
More props go up and the full show starts coming together.
Early October
We test the show in the evenings. You might catch a sneak peek!
24 October to 1 November
The show runs every night. We fix things during the day and add new songs and surprises every night.
November
As soon as Halloween is over, we do a quick swap from Halloween to Christmas.
From 1 December
The Christmas whites go on.
January
We start putting the lights away, cleaning and sealing them ready for next season.
No, it’s completely free! Donations for Martin House are always welcome, and you can give by card, cash or online through our JustGiving page.
Yep! Hodgson Family Lights is designed as a walk-through experience. Buggies, wheelchairs and friendly dogs visit all the time. For your safety, please don’t cross the light line.
On sensory nights, we run a gentler session for an hour before the main show, with softer lighting and quieter background music. It’s perfect for anyone who finds the full show a bit much. Look for the green nights on the calendar.
Music plays through speakers all around the garden. We keep checking the volume so we don’t annoy the neighbours.
We live on a busy street in Cross Gates, so please take a few minutes to park a little further away, and never block a driveway. If our neighbours get blocked in, it puts the whole show at risk.
We live in England, so it will rain, and the show is built for it! In high winds we may run a restricted show, with some parts secured for safety. In very high winds we’ll close. We’ll post any changes on Facebook.
raised by our family for Martin House so far
Martin House Children’s Hospice looks after children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Both shows raise money for them, and every penny counts.
This year: £0 raised of our £1,000 goal
Thank you to all the TV, radio and newspapers who’ve come to see the lights.
Want to film the show, chat to the family or use our photos? Email us or send us a Facebook message.
