2023 Halloween Show

DAK Lights returns in just 191 days!
We'll see you at 7:00pm on October 4, 2024

Enjoy videos of previous shows

Find DAK Lights

DAK Lights is located inside Randolph Park in Pulaski County, VA right off of Interstate 81 (Exit 98). Check this link on Google Maps for driving directions. If you're using your own GPS routing, use 5100 Alexander Road, Dublin, VA, 24084 as your destination.

As you enter the park from Alexander Road, take the first right and follow the circle to the back of the park. You'll see plenty of signs to guide the way!

DAK Lights High Level View

As you approach the back of the park, tune your car's radio to 103.9FM to listen to the show. There are plenty of parking spots available with excellent views of the entire light show. Please remember to turn off your headlights, and don't block the road or obstruct the view of others around you.

DAK Lights Detail View

When you're ready to head out, turn right out of the parking lot and follow the circle back towards the front of the park.

The light show runs continuously throughout the night during each holiday season (full calendar below), weather permitting.

Get Directions Plan your visit

Plan Your Visit

DAK Lights operates every night during each holiday season (full calendar below), weather permitting. Be sure to check back here or on social media before you head out for any last-minute updates due to weather.

The light show runs continuously throughout the night, so feel free to come and go whenever you'd like! Check out the Now Playing section above for details of when each song will play throughout the evening.

Show Schedule Legend
 
5:30pm to 10:00pm
 
5:30pm to 11:00pm
 
7:00pm to 10:00pm
 
7:00pm to 11:00pm
 
Not Operating
2024 Valentine's Day Show
January/February 2024
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Get Directions

About DAK Lights

DAK Lights is an annual Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day light and music show which premiered in November 2010. Every year, thousands of families from around the New River Valley come to visit and enjoy a roughly 25-35 minute light show set to music being broadcast over 103.9FM. Since its inception, the show has grown from about 3,000 incandescent (traditional) lights in white, red, and green to now over 50,000 LED lights capable of producing millions of color combinations.

DAK Lights has been featured in local media, including "The Burgs" in Blacksburg, VA, WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA, and WFXR-TV in Roanoke, VA, has won the "Best Christmas Decoration" award based on reader votes from "The Southwest Times" in Pulaski, and was the runner-up for the "Light Up Your Hometown" contest by WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, VA.

In addition, DAK Lights has been featured by the Virginia Tourism Commission, and received 7th place in WSLS-TV's "Top 10 Best Places to See Christmas Lights" in Southwest Virginia. As popularity has grown, so have news stories about our display, including this article in the Pulaski County Patriot, and this feature article on NRV News' website. The popular NextThreeDays.com website also published details of DAK Lights to a massive audience in Southwest Virginia and beyond.

In 2018, DAK Lights moved to a new location at Randolph Park in Pulaski County, VA. This move provides better parking and viewing locations, and also room to grow for many years to come. Check out this story from WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA (text story, video story) about our big relocation. We were also featured on WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, VA (text story, video story); their story shares the positive impact of the anonymous donation.

DAK Lights has been and always will be free, offering entertainment to everyone each year!

Frequently Asked Questions

Videos

Valentine's Day Show

2023 Valentine's Day Show

Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Michael Bolton / Kelly Rowland
   
Levitating
Dua Lipa
   
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Morten Harket
   
2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)
Lizzo
   
L.O.V.E.
Michael Buble
   
Fancy Like
Walker Hayes
   
Thinking Out Loud
Ed Sheeran
   
New Year's Show

2022 New Year's Show

Auld Lang Syne / Wonderful World
Mariah Carey / Louis Armstrong
   
Dance Monkey
Tones and I
   
Blinding Lights
The Weeknd
   
I'm Good (Blue)
Bebe Rhexa / David Guetta
   
Life is a Highway
Rascal Flatts
   
Can't Stop the Feeling
Justin Timberlake
   
Y.M.C.A.
Village People
   
Christmas Show

2022 Christmas Show

What a Glorious Night
Sidewalk Prophets
   
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Capital Kings
   
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Tommee Profitt
   
Little Drummer Boy
For King and Country
   
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Medley
Boris Karloff / Thurl Ravenscroft
   
What Child is This
Avril Lavigne
   
You Make It Feel Like Christmas
Gwen Stefani / Blake Shelton
   
O Holy Night
SVRCINA / Tauren Wells
   
Wizards in Winter
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
   
Joy to the World
Clark Beckham
   
Christmas Movies Mashup
Various Artists
   
I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas
LeAnn Rimes
   
Halloween Show

2022 Halloween Show

Ghostbusters
Ray Parker, Jr.
   
Bones
Imagine Dragons
   
Thriller
Michael Jackson
   
Halloween-lo-ween
Disney Parks
   
Spooky TV/Movie Themes
Various Artists
   
Star Wars Medley
John Williams
   
This is Halloween
Danny Elfman
   
Spell on You
Bette Midler
   
Running Up That Hill
Kate Bush / Baltic House Orchestra
   
Christmas Show

2020 Christmas Show

Little Drummer Boy
For King and Country
   
I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas
LeAnn Rimes
   
Let It Snow
Michael Buble
   
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Jesse J
   
Carol of the Bells
David Foster
   
Santa Shark
Super Simple Songs
   
Wizards in Winter
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
   
Sleigh Ride
Pentatonix
   
Joy to the World
Mariah Carey
   
Silver Bells
John Legend
   
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Danny Gokey
   
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Medley
Boris Karloff / Thurl Ravenscroft
   
Halloween Show

2020 Halloween Show

This is Halloween
Danny Elfman
   
Spooky TV/Movie Themes
Various Artists
   
Devil Went Down to Georgia
Charlie Daniels Band
   
Ghostbusters
Ray Parker, Jr.
   
Spooky Shark
Super Simple Songs
   
Thriller
Michael Jackson
   
Christmas Show

2019 Christmas Show

Silver Bells
John Legend
   
Joy to the World
Mariah Carey
   
Holly Jolly Christmas
MercyMe
   
Carol of the Bells
David Foster
   
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Jesse J
   
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Danny Gokey
   
Santa Shark
Super Simple Songs
   
Wizards in Winter
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
   

Our History

DAK Lights premiered in 2010, and we've made plenty of improvements over the years. Check out this timeline of our past:

2010

November 25 - December 31

  • 3,500 white, red and green lights

2011

November 24 - December 31

  • 5,900 white, red, green, and blue lights
  • Added 4 bushes and window outlines

2012

November 22 - December 31

  • 6,180 white, red, green, and blue lights
  • Added gutter outlines

2013

November 28 - December 31

  • 6,180 white, red, green, and blue lights
  • Added new controller modules
  • Completed electrical upgrades

2014

November 27 - December 31

  • 7,144 white, red, green, and blue lights
  • Added roof elements and strobe lights

2015

November 26 - December 31

  • 10,424 white, red, green, and blue lights
  • Added ground and door outlines
  • Added twinkle strobes on all elements

2016

November 24 - December 31

  • 27,045 multi-colored LED lights
  • Installed brand new controller modules
  • Networking and electrical upgrades

2017

November 23 - December 31

  • 27,567 multi-colored LED lights
  • Added snowflake elements on windows
  • Upgraded weatherproof connections

2018

November 22 - December 31

  • 17,328 multi-colored LED lights
  • Moved to Randolph Park in Pulaski County, VA
  • Transitioned to all "node" style LEDs

2019

November 28 - December 31

  • 20,496 multi-colored LED lights
  • Installed two digital video panels
  • Added twenty-two new snowflake props

2020

October 9 - October 31

  • 22,266 multi-colored LED lights
  • First ever Halloween Show
  • New spiders, bats, ghosts, and pumpkins

November 26 - December 31

  • 20,496 multi-colored LED lights
  • Longest show ever with 12 songs
  • Food trucks during select nights

2021

October 1 - October 31

  • 24,741 multi-colored LED lights
  • Two new Halloween songs
  • New ghosts floating above house

November 19 - December 25

  • 24,426 multi-colored LED lights
  • Five all-new Christmas songs
  • New stars twinkling above house

December 26 - January 16

  • 24,426 multi-colored LED lights
  • First ever New Year's light show

2022

January 28 - February 14

  • 20,940 multi-colored LED lights
  • First ever Valentine's Day light show
  • New heart shapes across entire display

October 8 - October 31

  • 45,900 multi-colored LED lights
  • Added "garages" to house display
  • Added 22 new pixel poles

November 24 - December 25

  • 42,840 multi-colored LED lights
  • Added 16 new stars above display
  • Added 3 all-new Christmas songs

December 26 - January 08

  • 42,840 multi-colored LED lights
  • Added 3 all-new party songs

2023

January 27 - February 14

  • 44,880 multi-colored LED lights
  • Added 3 all-new Valentine's songs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DAK Lights?
DAK Lights is an annual Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day light and music show in Pulaski County, VA. The lights are synchronized to music being broadcast over 103.9FM so you can enjoy on the radio from the comfort of your vehicle.

  • Halloween show runs nightly from early October (start date varies) through October 31st beginning at 7:00pm
  • Christmas show runs nightly starting in November (start date varies) through December 25th beginning at 5:30pm
  • New Year's light show runs nightly starting December 26th through early-January (end date varies) beginning at 5:30pm
  • Valentine's Day light show runs nightly beginning in late-January (start date varies) through February 14th beginning at 5:30pm.

How much does it cost to visit DAK Lights?
Our light shows have been and always will be free of charge!

When are the show times each night?
A complete listing of our show schedule is available above in the Plan Your Visit section; times vary with each season. The show repeats continuously throughout the evening, so you can start watching from any point and enjoy the show in whatever order you'd like! Check out our Now Playing section to see the estimated play times for each upcoming song while the show is running.

How do I hear the music?
To keep noise to a minimum, the light show audio is broadcast over FM radio that you can enjoy from the comfort of your car! Simply tune your radio to 103.9FM when you get close to the display.

When is the best time to visit?
DAK Lights is busiest on the weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights), and every night during the week leading up to the holiday. Traffic is usually highest from 7-9pm, so plan your visit either before or after that period for the best view.

Can I take pictures or videos to share?
Of course! We'd love for you to tag our pages (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc) as you share to help spread the word! Quick note: all the music we use during the show is covered under our license agreement which allow us to transmit over the radio. If you choose to share video clips online, the platform (example: YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok) may mute the audio to restrict the transmission of copyrighted material.

How many lights are there in the display?
Our elements vary from season to season and year to year, so our light total varies. With the switch to LED bulbs, we now have over 50,000 lights and add more every year!

I bet this creates a crazy power bill.
That's not really a question, but we'll entertain it! Since we switched to LED bulbs in 2016, our power bill is generally less than $100 for the entire season. Remember, not all the lights are on all the time... so we rarely reach peak power usage for more than 2-3 seconds.

How does this all work?
We use an open-source program called xLights that takes our vision and programming for a specific song and converts it into individual commands that get sent to each and every lightbulb at a rate of 40 times per second. Each light bulb contains a single red, a single green, and a single blue light that, when programmed together, can create over 16 million color combinations. It's mind-boggling to think how it all works, but understanding comes with many, many years of experience!

How do I build something like this on my house?
We started in 2010 by watching some online video tutorials and checking out some "Light Show Display" hardware. If you're interested in specifics, we'd recommend starting with the Beginner RGB Pixels playlist from Canispater Christmas' YouTube Channel. He dives into some details on controllers, hardware, lights, and software. The technology and options continuously improve each year, so you may notice differences from his videos recorded in 2018. Fair warning: this kind of light show is not easy or cheap to setup; it requires a lot of patience and months of dedication to build, test, program, and install.

Have a question we haven't answered?
Let us know and we'll try to get you an answer right away!