Holiday lights: some around Chicago to brighten your spirits

Some of these are big spectacles that dazzle people with their sheer size. Others might not be as large, but there’s just something about them that makes you smile.

What makes a great holiday light display?

It doesn’t have to be the biggest or most dazzling. It just needs to make you smile every time you walk or drive past it.

We asked Sun-Times readers to send in photos of their favorite holiday light displays from homes that they can’t wait to see each year. Here’s a sampling, along with some we spotted.

Holiday lights on a home in the 2600 block of West Logan Boulevard in Logan Square. — 2600 block of West Logan Boulevard.

Kenwood

Little Village

Bronzeville

Little Village

Bronzeville

North Bell Avenue

A reader wrote: “What makes the display stand out: Lights up the entire courtyard with Christmas spirit!”

Jefferson Park

Will Farrell does his part to make people stop and look.

Bridgeport

Logan Square

Albany Park

Heart of Chicago

Andersonville

Ukrainian Village

Heart of Italy

Avondale

Irving Park

Logan Square

Humboldt Park

Little Village

Homer Glen

A reader writes: “All the lights are set to music broadcast over a designated FM station that you can listen to in your car. He has about a 55-minute program that keeps repeating. He’s done this for several years, always adding and tweaking.”

Beverly

101st Street and Oakley in Beverly

The owner of this home at 101st Street and Oakley in Beverly decided to “deck the deck” this year, using “leftover materials from some basement remodeling” to create a decorate a holiday living room on his deck.

Plainfield

A reader writes: “This retired couple, along with their grandkids, decorate both the inside and outside to the extreme!! It takes them weeks and weeks to get the job done, and their electric bill goes up substantially, but it’s simply spectacular!!”