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For seven years, the Maywald Christmas light display has brought the Christmas spirit to southwest Austin, just east of Dripping Springs. In 2021, that spirit raised $80,000.
The display first opened to the public in 2015 and has run from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s Eve every winter since. Despite gaining national recognition, the Maywald Christmas light display remains the sole work of the Maywald family, a four person team that spends over three months setting up and tearing down the lights each year.
None of them ever expected how large their displays would get, says son Jordan Maywald. “When I was a kid, my
“When I was a kid, my dad and I used to put lights out on the roof together,” Maywald said. “One year, when I was about 9, I asked my dad if we could put up the lights and he wanted to wait. So, I decided to just do it myself.”
Maywald, now 23, has been taking the initiative ever since.
“I’d get out there on a ladder, and it just grew and grew,” he said. “I wasn’t allowed out of the front yard, but I don’t like to take no for an answer… [the light display] ended up expanding across the property.”
“I pay for most everythin out there,” he continued. “I work during the summer, and that pays for a lot of it. A lot has also been collecte over the years, and I make all the individual displays myself — all I buy from th store is plywood and lights.
Paying for the display became significantly easier when the Maywalds won ABC’s "The Great Christmas Light Fight" in 2019, taking home a $50,000 prize.
Though entrance to the display is free, donations ar encouraged. All donations benefit the nearby office of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness.
This year, the Maywald Christmas light display raised over $80,000, bringing their overall donations to almost $200,000.
“If we didn’t do it for Make-a-Wish, we probably wouldn’t do it at all,” Maywald said. “That’s what Christmas is all about... the season of giving. You actually get to see where the money goes, and we get to meet every kid we’re able to grant a wish to.”
From New York to Japan, from shopping sprees to room makeovers, the Maywald Christmas light display has collected enough donations to grant 27 wishes.
“The Dripping Springs community has been a huge part of this,” Maywald concluded. “If it wasn’t for Dripping Springs, we wouldn’t have been able to make nearly the impact we have.”
The display is located at 10505 Twilight Vista, between Circle Drive and U.S. Highway 290. For more information, visit maywaldchristmasdisplay.weebly.com.
