Iconic Bristol Christmas lights display celebrating its 30th anniversary this year

An iconic Bristol Christmas lights display is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, continuing to raise money for charity. So far, the Brailsford Lights in Trevisa Grove, Brentry, has raised more than £110,818 for the Wallace & Gromit Grand Appeal at Bristol Children's Hospital.

This year will see the lights, set up by two brothers, switched on on November 30, with the spectacle remaining until January 2, 2025. Lights will be on between 5-9pm each night, though there are also special event evenings taking place across the festive period - these include raffles, hot chocolates, a cookie cabin, and snow machine, on selected dates, and even the chance to see Santa on Christmas Eve.

This year three of the Brailsford family are at the helm of the lights display - Lee Brailsford (43), Paul Brailsford (40), and Jordan Brailsford (22).

The Brailsford Christmas lights display started one Boxing Day back in 1994, the family says, after a visit to B&Q where the brothers (then teenagers) discovered a large selection of Christmas lights for half price in the sale. After buying a single light-up Christmas tree, every year the family have invested in more and more lights, keeping them in the attic until they outgrew the space.

On the official Brailsford Lights website, the family writes: "We imported the life-size nativity from America and we had to get it over two years because it cost so much - the first year we got the main parts i.e. Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the three wise men, the next year we got the camel, shepherd, two sheep and the angel.

"We made a nice stage for the stable and, as we are carpenters, it's quite easy to make things we need to set a good scene."

The brothers went on to say: "When we left home and got our own houses and families, our mum said we should split the lights half each. But the following Christmas the neighbours were asking 'when are you starting your Christmas lights?'

"We didn’t like to say that we were not doing them anymore as we now had our own houses, so we just carried on doing the lights every year at mum's. As the lights display got bigger, we moved on to other parts of the house - the roof, garage and now even the garden. It takes a lot of setting up and that’s why we start in October."

As public interest in the display continued to grow, the family thought it would be a good opportunity to raise some money for local charities. They got in touch with Southmead hospital and decided to support the 'Tiny Lives Campaign' until the campaign ended. Since then, they've been supporting the Wallace & Gromit Grand Appeal at Bristol Children's Hospital.

In 2007 they raised £1,566.12 for the Cots For Tots Campaign as part of the Grand Appeal, and they have since reached more than £110,000 for the charity overall. In the past, the display has attracted tens of thousands of people throughout the festive season, with Friday and Saturday nights usually being the busiest times.

People come from across Bristol and the South West to see the display - over the years, some have even travelled from as far away as Scotland to see the illuminations in person.

People can donate online via the JustGiving page or to donate £5 text 5lights, £10 10lights or £20 20lights to 70450. For updates, including regular sneak peeks of the lights being set up, you can follow the Brailsford Christmas Lights Display on Facebook.