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when do they film the great christmas light fight

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” is typically filmed about a year before it airs, with actual on-location filming happening in the fall (often October–early November) of the previous year.

Quick Scoop

  • The show films a year in advance , so episodes you see this December were usually shot the previous holiday season.
  • Producers shifted the schedule so they could film in late fall (November/December) and show true winter vibes without forcing families to fully set up in late summer.
  • Contestant accounts mention crews coming out in October for main shooting days, then doing extra interviews and pickup shots over a few days.

How the Filming Schedule Works

  • Earlier seasons sometimes pushed families to start building displays as early as August–September, which production later decided was too demanding.
  • To fix that, they filmed two seasons back-to-back in one year, which put the series “a year ahead” so they could comfortably shoot in late fall while still having time for heavy editing.
  • Because of this system, a season airing in, say, December 2024 was largely filmed during the 2023 holiday period.

What Contestants Experience

  • Families usually prep their displays for weeks or months, but the main TV filming window (crews on site, interviews, big “light up” moment) is packed into a few days in October or early November.
  • One former participant described an initial producer visit in mid‑October, followed by a later visit where the crew filmed interviews and final display shots over two days.
  • Because the show is so visual, production aims for colder-weather nights, visible breath, and cozy jackets so it really feels like Christmas on camera.

Timeline In Plain Terms

  • Build and planning: Late summer into early fall (varies per family).
  • Main filming: Mid‑October through early November, sometimes into late November, roughly one year before that season airs.
  • Air date: Following December on ABC (for example, Season 12 airing December 2024 was filmed the previous year).

TL;DR

They film “The Great Christmas Light Fight” in the fall — usually October to early November — about one full year before those episodes hit TV, so production can capture real wintery Christmas vibes and still have plenty of time to edit.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.