French home’s huge Christmas decorations attract thousands of visitors

Christmas decorations on a house in Pas-de-Calais, northern France, are attracting up to 800 visitors every night, after taking more than a month and a half and up to €15,000 to install.

Many of us may trim our homes with a few outdoor Christmas lights and call it a day for exterior decor, but 22-year-old Hugo Capron in Neuvireuil (Pas-de-Calais) has gone much, much further.

His decorations include a light-up Ferris wheel, light-up reindeer and penguins, a fake snowmaker, roof lights, huge baubles, a gilded archway and even matching Christmas music.

His mini “Christmas grotto”, which will be up for all of December, is now attracting up to 800 people per night, with parents bringing their children to enjoy the lights, dance to the music, and take photos amid the glow

Mr Capron told FranceInfo that Christmas decorations “are his passion”, and said he had originally spent €10,000-€15,000 on the decor some seven years ago when he was just a teenager.

This year, he invested an extra €1,500 to update and repair some, and started planning the 2021 display more than six weeks ago.

He said: “Seeing children and parents happy makes me even happier, and [the] work I've done serves a purpose. Even if the [lights] are really expensive, I'll generally leave but then go back and buy them two or three days later anyway.”

Related stories

Health advisors call for New Year Covid restrictions in France
Bordeaux to have glass and steel Christmas tree instead of 'dead tree'
Did you know? Strasbourg was France's first Christmas market