Every neighborhood has a home that’s decked out with Christmas lights and a notch above the rest. Bill Incatasciato’s Leesburg, Virginia home in the Lakes at Red Rock community, is that house. The home, transforms into a “Griswald” appearance each year with many coming to see it. “Once I got into doing large displays, I realized that the real joy was in having others come and enjoy the kaleidoscope of color,” he said.
Growing up in Florida, Incatasciato remembers enjoying family outings to look at Christmas displays in their neighborhood. “Most homes up and down the street were draped in various amounts of colorful lights. Back then, it was fairly simple. There were two types of lights, the large C9s and the “newer” mini lights.”
Nowadays, there are so many types and styles of displays that are easy and fun. It’s a creative outlet for many who have the same mission to spark joy with all who see. Incatasciato realized there was no way to track holiday lights in Loudoun County. That’s when the pediatrician volunteered to take on the endeavor himself. He created a website in 2017 and a social group that shares a holiday lights roadmap in the area. The Facebook Group, Loudoun Holiday Lights, has 15K followers and Incatasciato updates with light submissions daily. The page launched with only a handful of homes listed and has quickly turned into a place for everyone to share homes to visit during the holiday season.
“When we look at these homes, what we see is joy and happiness,” said Incatasciato. “We experience wonderment at someone’s ingenuity at creating unique displays. They make us smile and laugh and brings back happy memories of the past.”
The Facebook page and website is intended for people in Loudoun County (and nearby) to post their homes so that “others may find them and appreciate the cheer they have created on their properties,” he added.
Some of the homes synchronize their lights to music played on a radio frequency, others create animated displays, and many displayers will even collect for various charities, he noted. “Regardless of the type of display, all the displayers share a common goal. They want to share their joy with others.”
Incatasciato references the song, “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” notating the lyric, “come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination.”
He said holiday lights connect neighbors and what he loves so much about the season. “The magic of the displays isn’t who made them or why, but that when we look at them, we get to enter a world of imagination.”
It also helps the community get through hard times, like the pandemic, he said, as you get to temporarily forget all the worries and troubles and embrace the magic the lights bring to families who seek them.
Loudoun Christmas Lights
In addition to Christmas lights, the Loudoun Holiday Christmas Lights Facebook page also highlights other holiday happenings in the area, including tree lightings, parades, and related events. It’s also expanded to cover Halloween. During the autumn season, Incatasciato lights up his home in a Nightmare Before Christmas theme before transforming his yard just days later into Christmas festive decor.
To see the holiday lights roadmap, visit Loudoun Christmas Lights. You can also submit a display on the website.
