Behind the scenes of North Myrtle Beach’s Christmas light show. Here’s what’s new

Three days a week, 52 weeks a year, Rob Salvador’s weathered hands carefully stretch tubes of lights onto metal frames.

Bending miles of LED rope lights into intricate patterns, cinching the strands down with plastic zip ties, splicing the rope and testing the power – the 72-year-old works all year to create the holiday scenes on display at the Great Christmas Light Show in North Myrtle Beach.

Reindeer jumping, elves dancing, locomotive train tires spinning – all the displays are fabricated in the shop at the North Myrtle Beach facility.

“If you see something hanging, it was done with these hands,” said Salvador, who has worked stringing lights since 2018.

The North Myrtle Beach Special Events team call him the “lighting guru.”

On a Thursday before the show begins on Nov. 24, Salvador was working on a helicopter, explaining how LORs, which stands for “Light-O-Rama control boxes,” would be used to program the timing of the lights to make the craft’s rotors look as if they are actually turning.

Having that kind of creative input, and watching as the team works to make the designs a reality, is one of the more satisfying parts of his job, he says. But the guru is quick to note that he doesn’t make it happen alone. The North Myrtle Beach crew includes welders, electricians, computer specialists, construction and grounds crews.

Salvador said one of his proudest moments came when his grandchildren visited the park last year and told him that they believed the display outdid the one they regularly visited at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Evidently, lots of holiday goers are equally impressed.

The Great Christmas Light Show has become a local holiday tradition with 38,000 cars passing through the display last year according to Angel Sylvester, North Myrtle Beach’s special events and programs manager.

Great Light Show expanded to include new phase, new lands

This year, the 10th Anniversary of the event, the display will be expanded to encompass Phase Two of the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex.

Kimi Walters, special events crew leader, has worked for eight years on the displays and said that her team is normally adjusting and refining right down to the wire prior to opening. But the enormity of this year’s task has been made all the more challenging since ground crews are still finalizing the construction of the new phase.

Putting on an event of this size and coordinating it around the construction of the park expansion has taken over a hundred staffers, according to Sylvester, with every department involved.

The expansion has allowed for two new theme “lands” – “Jingle in the Jungle” and “Land Before Christmas.” Visitors will enter the festivities through the Phase 2 gate further up Champions Boulevard.

Organizers expect that the longer, nearly two-mile drive into the complex, will relieve some of the traffic woes of year’s past on Robert Edge Parkway and Highway 90. Additionally, drivers will now be allowed to turn right off Highway 90 onto Champions Boulevard. By spreading out the event, North Myrtle Beach officials hope to keep all the traffic within the park and cars moving smoothly through the display.

This year, the drive through the lights and music will be longer. There will be more animated displays with more lights – now more than 3 million, and there are some surprises in store.

Sylvester said the tallest light display will be an attention-getting 50 feet high, but exactly what the display was, she wouldn’t say.

Visit Santa’s Village for the full experience

After driving through the lighting spectacular, visitors can park and wander through Santa’s Village where they’ll find the “Rockin’ Christmas Tree,” a petting zoo, jump aboard the Santa Express train ride, make s’mores by the fire, and of course, snuggle up to the big man himself for a Santa selfie.

If all goes according to plan, visitors will leave with a sense of Holiday cheer that will carry them through the season.

But when the lights come on Nov. 24, the work won’t end for Salvador and the rest of the team.

Lights get damaged by wind and rain, strands go dark and animations stop working.

When they break, the lighting guru will be in his workshop the next morning, making sure that the show will go on.

Know before you go

The Great Christmas Light Show begins Nov. 24 and runs through Dec. 30 except for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Gates are open from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Santa’s Village, included in the cost of admission, is only open on Thursday through Sunday nights until Dec. 11. From Dec. 12 through Dec. 30, the village will open nightly. Tickets will be available at the gates.

Admission prices are:

– $20 Standard Vehicles (Non-Village Nights)

– $25 Standard Vehicles (Village Nights)

– $50 Oversized Vehicles (All Nights)

– $100 Charter Buses (Admitted Monday through Thursday only)

For detailed event information visit the North Myrtle Beach Events Calendar.

This story was originally published November 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM.