Original music helps the Ashburn family capture $50k prize on The Great Christmas Light Fight

The Ashburn-based Horn family secured the $50,000 grand prize on The Great Christmas Light Fight after delivering a display unlike any the series has seen before — a fully synchronized pixel-light show powered by original family-recorded music.

Their use of custom compositions, a first in the show’s history, became the defining element that propelled them ahead of two California competitors and earned them the coveted Light Fight trophy.

Judge Carter Oosterhouse praised the innovation immediately, responding to the display’s soundtrack with unmistakable awe. 

“I have to say that your original score … that was unbelievable,” he said during judging. “It was music to my ears. It was music to my eyes! I loved every minute of it, and that’s why you are the champions of The Great Christmas Light Fight!”

The Horns’ win marks a standout moment for the series, now in its 13th season, as the show continues to evolve from traditional light displays to technically sophisticated, story-driven productions.

With nearly 90,000 pixel lights across the exterior of their home at 21260 Rosetta Place, Mike and Johanna Horn transformed their property into a synchronized canvas, blending custom graphics, beats, and color sequences.

Their win reaffirms how increasingly elaborate programming — rather than sheer bulb count alone — has come to define success on The Great Christmas Light Fight.

Original music becomes the winning edge on The Great Christmas Light Fight

The Horn family’s display stood out immediately for its integration of light and sound. While many contestants on The Great Christmas Light Fight have used music to elevate their presentations, the Horns made history by producing and recording their own soundtrack.

Mike called the effort “an awesome blend of the music with the family,” noting that it “basically shows off the family’s musicality but also our love of Christmas lights.”

Their show opened with Oosterhouse activating the pixel display using a custom-lit guitar, triggering animated graphics that rippled across the house.

The judge described the property with characteristic enthusiasm: 

“Your house is magnificent. The entire scene runs all the way down from the roof to the front door. That looks like a TV screen. That is so impressive. You put lights everywhere! And, look at your roof!”

The technical elements — including pixel matrices, handmade cutouts, and a “pixel forest” constructed across the yard — contributed to the visual scale, but it was the auditory component that set the display apart.

By building their show around original compositions, the Horns created a rhythm and pacing that could not be replicated by other contestants relying on commercial holiday tracks.

The harmony between their music and their animated lighting became the emotional spine of the presentation.

Beyond the spectacle of the main show, the Horn family also structured the experience to include a quieter moment.

Hidden behind the high-tech front display was a nostalgic section using warm traditional lights and wire-frame decorations from Mike’s mother’s home. Johanna said,

“There’s so much magic back here. It just brings you to that childhood joy, that nostalgia.”

That blend — innovation at the front, tradition in the back — gave the display a narrative arc rarely seen on The Great Christmas Light Fight.

The Horns’ victory adds them to a growing list of families whose displays have become local attractions even before their televised episodes air.

Following Thursday night’s broadcast, visitors in Ashburn surged, prompting the family to encourage guests to park along the neighborhood’s main street to prevent congestion in the cul-de-sacs.

The synchronized display runs nightly through December 30, with show hours adjusted on weekends.

In keeping with the community spirit that often accompanies high-profile Christmas displays, the Horn family is also using their spotlight to gather donations for four local organizations: A Place To Be, LAWS (Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter), Loudoun Hunger Relief, and The Chris Atwood Foundation.

Their win also continues a trend in which The Great Christmas Light Fight honors not only scale but storytelling — the layered meaning behind the lights, the connection between form and family, and the ways households build traditions in real time.

The Horns’ entry demonstrated all three, pairing technical ambition with a personal musical signature that made their display distinct within the competition.

As the series enters its next holiday season, the Horns’ victory sets a new creative benchmark: not simply more lights, but more expression — and, in this case, a soundtrack composed at home that became the key to capturing the $50,000 prize.

Stay tuned for more updates.