Lights, music, action! There’s still time to see an amazing festive lights experience in Ipswich - but you will have to hurry.
The Aleksic Christmas Lights show is currently wowing onlookers in Lister Road, Ipswich, and raising money for charity,
The colourful spectacular, which runs each evening until December 31, was dreamed up by James Aleksic, 22. He has decorated his family's house every Christmas for the last six years with an impressive display of lights.
James, of JLA Sound and Light, has designed sound and lighting for many local productions. He said: "I'm a theatre technician by trade, and this is something I enjoy doing. I was at high school when I started doing the light show, in 2013 - the first year was just a few fairy lights.
"I design it and add more lights every year, and there are always more people coming to see it. People really love it.
"We get all sorts of people coming to see it - someone travelled from Bury St Edmunds the other day."
This year's light show is bigger and better than ever, featuring an amazing 1,375 individually controlled channels, programmed to "dance" to music, with constantly changing colours and effects. There is also a rocking soundtrack, which gives a whole new sound to "Deck the halls with boughs of holly".
Visitors can press a big red button to see the full five-minute light show, at any time between 4pm and 9pm.
Over the six years, more than £1,000 has been collected for St Elizabeth Hospice, a charity which means a lot to James.
He said: "We've had lots of family and friends who have been through the hospice, and the care they give is amazing, so we've always loved to support them."
The family always organises a get-together for the neighbours and a switch-on to launch the display. "Everyone is always really supportive," James said.
James starts initial planning for each year's spectacular around August. "I end up listening to Christmas music in the summer, thinking about what music to use!," he said
The actual job of programming then takes a few weeks, in between other work. "I do all the programming and Mum and Dad help out." Putting up all the lights takes a couple of days.
You can donate to St Elizabeth Hospice via James's JustGiving fundraising page. It is also possible to donate cash when you visit the light show.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here