Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation workers have a busy month ahead as they begin to set up an annual holiday lights display at Lynn Creek Park.
Prairie Lights' millions of holiday lights are being manually assembled starting this week.
"There are two miles of lights, so it's really a little bigger than your average front yard display," said Beverly Grogan, city community events coordinator.
She expects about 140,000 people from 240 different cities to drive through Prairie Lights this year. Visitors who make it out every year will be pleasantly surprised with some new pieces throughout the 12 lands, she said.
"We use a lighting designer out of California who has customized designs that you won't see anywhere else in the United States," Grogan said.
Crews are paying attention to the smallest details to make each piece light up just the way it should. Equipment operator Danny Weimar said he's ready to add "lighting technician" to his resume after working on the displays for four years.
"There's tons of shortcuts that you can take," he said. "You can tape over stuff to hide flaws and different things that you can't see from several feet away but you can see up close."
While fastening countless zip ties can be a bit of a pain, seeing the end product and sharing its beauty with the community gives Weimar a great sense of accomplishment.
"You actually get to take pride in something that you drive through, and people ask you, 'Who built this?' or 'Who done that?' and you can say 'I helped,'" he said.
Prairie Lights open on Thanksgiving Day and runs through New Year's Eve.
