Wilmington, Tewksbury Residents To Compete On Holiday Light Show

WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington's Fiore family, along with friends in Wilmington and Tewksbury, will compete on ABC's "Great Christmas Light Fight" Wednesday.

Charles Fiore, 23, has been creating Christmas light displays for 16 years, he said, but last year he had to step it up, when ABC filmed this year's episodes of the show. He brought in his brother and four friends and built a massive Christmas village at his family's Concord Street home.

The episode airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The Fiores face a Utah family, a Missouri family and a New York family. The winner receives $50,000 and the "Light Fight Trophy."

See also: Patch's 2020 Guide To The Merrimack Valley's Best Light Displays

Fiore has always loved the Christmas season, especially decorating, he said, but it was once his displays started attracting attention that he started going all out.

"Once people started coming to look at them, I enjoyed seeing their reactions," Fiore say. "I wanted to make a big display for people to enjoy."

Do you like this story? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

Two years ago, the Fiore display landed on local TV news, and that attracted ABC's attention. A recruiter suggested he applied, and he made the show.

Fiore was inspired by "The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights" at Disney World, which he visited in 2012.

"It's a street they had where they put lights over all the buildings," Fiore said. "I went there in 2012 on Christmas Day, and it was just so amazing."

He had help from his brother Jonas as well as friends Wesley Moreira and Jason Donahue of Tewksbury and Ed Gallagher and Joshua Rizzo of Wilmington. They spent several days shooting, as they built the display.

"It came out better than the original plans," Fiore said. "As time went on the plan expanded, and I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do because we ran out of time. But it came out really well."

Fiore will be watching with the rest of us: he doesn't know who won yet.

"You never know, they don't say who you're competing against," he said. "I think we did a good job in everything, and really tried, so we'll see what happened."

Hoping to see Fiore's display in person? You're in luck: he built basically the same display this year, so that people who watch the show can see his handiwork in person as well.

The lights are on at 12R Concord Street until around 9:30 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. on weekends, Fiore said. He asks that people drive through as quickly as possible, as there can be a lot of traffic.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.