SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Across East Texas, the holiday magic continues to unfold from various celebrations like Christmas parades and tree lightings. At Santa Land, located right off of Interstate 20 between Tyler and Lindale, there’s a particular tree that you can’t miss once the sun sets.
It doesn’t require any actual limbs to be held up and can be seen displaying various patterns and designs. Employee Tori Guy said she credits her family for putting it all together.
"It was my dad's idea," Guy said. "This is his brain child. He did all the planning and getting all the tools and all of our supplies together and made the plan of what we were going to do. We have been countless families, family tradition during Christmas time since we've opened."
The "mega tree" stands 75-feet tall and it contains over 30,000 individual light bulbs that are programed by a computer to give off this spectacular lightshow that you can see just off of I-20. Guy said this all came together during the COVID-19 pandemic and became a family project.
Tyler resident Liz Trotty brings her family to Santa Land every year and loves seeing the new additions they and to the light trail.
"I think it's really fun and it's fun to come and see like the new things that they've done," Trotty said. "Like the superhero thing that they have in there this year that they haven't had that before."
The tree also has many families that decorate their own home wondering how they make this happen every year.
"We wonder how they get all the power out there," said Lindale resident Lee Christian. "What's it cost? All those those questions that comes with something like this."
Christian said coming out to Santa Land is a traditional way for their family to kick off their holiday festivities for the fifth year in a row.
"We always come early because the lines are a little bit shorter," Christian said. "You can just kind of come through here and take your time a little more."
Santa Land will be open every night until 10 p.m. So there’s still plenty of time to experience these dazzling light displays with your family.