Pick a holiday

The big one. Six weeks of run time, the highest expectations on the street, and the only holiday where your neighbors are keeping score.

• start early October
• 90 plans

The one holiday where people get out of the car and walk right up to your door, so detail at eye level matters more than anything you can see from the road.

• happening now
• start early September
• 70 plans

The longest season of the lot. A harvest display goes up in September and stays useful until the day the Christmas lights go on.

• happening now
• start late August
• 0 plans

Short, cheap, and almost nobody does it, which is exactly why a Valentine yard gets noticed. Two weeks of the deadest month on the calendar.

• start early January
• 30 plans

A daylight holiday. Nothing needs to light up, everything needs to survive wind and rain, and the whole thing goes up in an afternoon.

• start late February
• 30 plans

One setup that covers Memorial Day, the Fourth and Labor Day. Three months of run time for one afternoon of work.

• start early May
• 0 plans

Small, green and cheerful in the gap between February and spring. A porch-scale holiday rather than a whole-yard one.

• start early February
• 0 plans