Gill Street Christmas display bigger and brighter this year despite adjusting to COVID-19 precautions

For the seventh year in a row, the Betts and Perkins families will bring festive cheer to the streets of Kootingal, but things might look a bit different.

While visitors are usually able to walk around the property, which is converted into a festive wonderland of displays, Kerrie Betts said due to COVID-19 precautions the family had decided to close off the garden access.

"We start planning what we're going to do in September to get the garden ready and this year it was still limited to the number of people you could have in your home," Ms Betts said.

"It would have meant a lot of people in a small area and we just couldn't do that yet and be safe."

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But don't worry, the Christmas-loving family are still providing sleigh-fulls of festive cheer.

"We've made it bigger, we definitely haven't scaled back," Ms Betts said.

To make sure people can enjoy the display from the street, the family have invested in larger decorations, including a giant Santa, sleigh and train.

They have also switched from solar lights to brighter LED lights.

"Once you turn the corner, you can see that we're here, it's extremely bright," Ms Betts said.

In previous years the family has asked for donations from visitors, which have gone towards providing funds for local schools and health organisations.

"Each year the grandchildren choose a purpose for the fundraising," she said.

But Ms Betts said as visitors wouldn't be getting the traditional walk-through experience this year they wouldn't be asking for donations.

Instead, the family has gifted some of their decorations to a local nursing home to provide some holiday cheer.

"My husband's mother was in a nursing home and his father, and my mother is in one so we just wanted to make life a little bit more pleasant to bring Christmas alive for them," Ms Betts said.

To witness the bright lights and festive displays the wonderland is located at 9 Gill Street, in Kootingal.

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