KENNEWICK, Wash. – The Gowey family is transforming their Kennewick home into a Wicked-themed light show to celebrate the new ‘Wicked: For Good’ movie releasing on Friday, Nov. 21.
This transformation is part of their tradition of decorating their home for the holidays, creating a unique experience for their neighborhood.
Amy and Jacob Gowey have taken the concept of holiday decorating to the next level.
“I feel like it’s kind of like the modern way of Christmas caroling, because people don’t Christmas Carol anymore. So it’s like delivering music to your neighborhood, a little gift for them,” Amy said.
After Halloween, the Goweys switched their decorations for the new Wicked movie. They have seen the play three times and have already purchased their movie tickets.
“We’re taking my folks up in Spokane out on Thanksgiving. So I already bought them. We’ll be up there to see it with them,” Jacob said.
The display is a collaborative effort, with Amy creating the playlist and designing the lights, while Jacob handles the programming to synchronize the lights with the radio.
“To try to be respectful of neighbors instead of blaring over a speaker all night long, we transmit on a low-band frequency radio on local stations and sync it up,” Jacob said. “In this case, we hooked it up with a small computer so it will play a clip on a projector that synchronizes with a radio transmitter. So that way you can just pull up in a car and listen to it and stay in the warmth the whole time.”
A new feature this year is a projector screen showing different clips from the movie.
Setting up the entire display takes about two days and the lights will stay up until Easter, with the theme changing over time.
“Looking to keep it up through Thanksgiving,” Jacob said. “And then as the season progresses, we’ll move on to new themes, and I’ll let my boss (Amy) come up with her inspirations on what she would like to show next. So to be determined.”
The light show is located at 8001 West 10th Avenue in Kennewick from dusk to 10 p.m. Tune into 97.5 on the radio to get the full light and music experience.
