Nelson Family Lights in East Wenatchee Bolder Than Ever

Nick Nelson's computerized Christmas light show is back and more luminous than ever, with nearly 60,000 lights bedazzling the night sky on Saturday.

Spectacle begets celebrity, so it's no surprise that Nelson, with his flair for the ostentatious, has become well-known locally. But the first light show in 2014 was nothing compared to what it's become.

"My and I wife were driving through Ephrata," Nelson recalls. "Somebody had a couple of arches that were lit up and moving; you could hear songs. I was like, 'How do you do that?'" As fate would have it, this was on the eve of Nelson's birthday. He decided to treat himself. He bought a controller and just enough LED lights for a modest, inconspicuous but melodious display. (It's synchronized to music, so as always you'll want to tune in to 105. 5 FM.)

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"We add more [lights] every year," Nelson says. "The increase is bigger some years than others. This year we bought moving heads, which are the light beams that shoot from one end of the valley to the other. A lot of people have been commenting on that [laughs]."

In 2022, Nelson Family Lights moved to its current location: Annie's Fun Farm in East Wenatchee. According to Nelson, the show had outgrown its humble birthplace.

"They did some construction at our house in Sunnyslope. They put some curbing on a corner where people parked to watch the show, which kind of messed things up."

"But more importantly, we were getting a little big for that property. People were constantly stopping in the road and I knew at some point we would have to move to a bigger location. Thankfully Annie's reached out and said they'd love to host our show."

Annie's is located at S Mary Ave & 2130 Grant Rd. Nelson has firm instructions for spectators.

"I want to stress this," Nelson says. "They cannot park on Mary and they absolutely cannot park on Grant Rd. We had both of those happen last year, and I was like, 'Why are you parking on Grant Rd? There's literally no parking there. You're parking in a line lane of traffic.'"

The show runs through New Year's Day - that much is certain - but hours "are a little up in the air. It'll at least be 5 to 9. I think we'll probably run it 4:30 through 9:30 on the weekends, but at a minimum it'll be 5 to 9."

Now for the elephant in the room: what is expected, momentarily speaking, from showgoers?

"Up until last year, we were completely free, though we did take donations," Nelson says. "This year, we're doing a suggested donation of $10 per car. We accept just about every form of payment."

"We're also selling hot chocolate and caramel corn - all of that will go toward next year's show. I don't turn a profit; in fact I spend way more than I ever bring in. But donations help to make this possible."

In the coming years, Nelson, says, the show will be uprooted once more; Annie's is not long for this world. (The property is reportedly being converted into residential housing.) Moving costs are extortionately pricey as is the power panel on which Nelson relies.