Lighting up the night for Christmas

Da Silva runs a dance studio at his house and was one of the trainers for the hit show, Strictly Come Dancing. He said his Christmas lights are a neighbourhood attraction and people driving along Swallow Drive often stop to admire the decorations.

With the help of his gardener, he starts to hang up his decorations from 1 November, and due to the large amount of decorations and the special connections he has to make for each light, the task takes four weeks.

Da Silva said he has always loved Christmas.

“Christmas just makes you feel like a kid again,” he said.

“I’m Portuguese, so culturally, Christmas is a really big thing.”

Da Silva said while he already has a large stockpile of Christmas decorations, and even has a special storeroom at the back of his house for them, every year he buys more. His obsession with Christmas decorations started when he decided to take home all the excess decorations from his father-in-law’s flower shop, Message from the Heart.

Once he had hung up all the decorations he took home from the shop, he knew he needed more.

Da Silva decorates the exterior of his house with reindeer, holly wreaths, bells and Santa Clauses but the decorating frenzy does not stop there. Around Christmas time, Da Silva’s garden is transformed into a mystical and magical land with fairy lights and lamps of all colours. The inside of his house boasts an adorned fireplace and a huge Christmas tree with 600 lights.

“I love decorating my house,” he said. “The holiday season is one month that just brings people together. It’s great when people stop to look at the decorations. There’s just a really nice community spirit around this time.”