Bay Area family's display, Mattos Orchard Lights, to be highlighted on ABC's 'The Great Christmas Light Fight'
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose, California doesn't mess around with Christmas displays, but no one does it quite like the Mattos Family!
J.R. Mattos has carried on a tradition that his great grandfather started and brought it to new heights.
"About three years ago, I kind of stopped counting, but I know I'm over 100,000 lights and I'm over like 200 blow molds, so there's definitely a lot to see," Mattos Orchard Lights creator Mattos said. "We're spread out throughout the orchard, you're gonna have to drive up and down the street a few times or walk around to see everything."
"We have a traditional mixed with a light show display which is more unique and getting more popular because you have that Christmas tradition along with the fun lights and music," Mattos' wife, Cecelia Mattos, said.
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With just three weeks of work, this Bay Area apricot orchard transforms into a winter wonderland every year with more than thousands of lights and hundreds of blow molds.
"My display is divided up into lands," Mattos said. "So you're kind of like at the North Pole and they're Santa's factories. I think my personal like section that I pride myself most about is the Johnny's Tree Farm. I go by J.R., but my real name is John and I'm actually the fourth and my son is the fifth. All five of us have an elf in that section, which is pretty cool. It has my great grandfather, my grandfather and my dad also."
In 2020, the Mattos Orchard Lights display was even featured on ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight!"
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"Being on the great Christmas light fight was pretty amazing," Mattosa said. "I've been lucky enough to be in the audience a few times in the past. For it to be my chance to be on it was pretty incredible. The experience that night is one my whole family, my kids will never forget being on 'The Great Christmas Light Fight.' It's been really cool to continue on with the family tradition. My family always decorated the orchard for years, then I kind of took over with my grandfather and we kind of went crazy. Then I took over solo and went beyond crazy and turned it into what we have now which was good enough to be on 'The Great Christmas Light Fight,' which I think is actually good enough to win 'The Great Christmas Light Fight.'"
You can learn more about the display by visiting their Facebook page here.
