- NSW/ACT: Peter Overton of Quakers Hills made use of palm trees and a real-life Christmas tree to form the feature of his display. Peter chose Light for Kids as his charity of choice
- VIC: Tom Sykes of Kew East, constructed a fairy light Christmas tree installation in his front yard, and used LEDs to highlight the structure of the house. Tom is donating to Starlight Children’s Foundation
- SA: Beverley Bradwell of Woodcroft, for her castle-like design, perfect symmetry and beautiful message displayed, with not a light out of place. Beverley has chosen to donate to Share the Dignity
- WA: Marie Vranjes of Dalyellup covered every part of her home and yard with festive lights and created a home for families to visit Santa. Marie has chosen Perth Children’s Hospital as her charity
- QLD: Yvonne Miles of Sandstone Point used a mixture of lights and life-size decorations to bring the spirit of Christmas to their community. Yvonne has chosen to donate to the Heart Foundation
- TAS: [Name withheld] of Burnie, created a two-story masterpiece covering every tree and native plant in their garden with lights, and adorned the home with dazzling lights and inflatable festive displays. Charity: The Smith Family
Judged by representatives from News Corp, Allianz and Allianz’s Chief Festive Officer, international award winning designer and TV presenter, Jamie Durie, the Spotlight Your Sparkle competition was created to recognise and reward those who go above and beyond to bring joy to their community throughout the festive season.
“The calibre of entries submitted in Allianz’s Spotlight Your Sparkle competition was seriously impressive – we had a tough job picking just one winner from each of the states. So many hours of thought and preparation has gone into lighting up these homes and the joy they have brought to their communities is truly inspiring,” said Jamie Durie.
“Personally, I was looking for innovative displays, sustainable styles and well-thought-out designs and Australia really did deliver! It’s all about making use of what is already existing in our homes and decorating in a truly Australian way, and our winners really exemplified this.
“Our selected winners really stood out for me because of their ability to not only decorate with creative flair, but also in a sustainable way. The Overton Family from NSW really blew me away with their sleek designs and use of the huge conifer tree in their front garden, and the Bradwell Family from SA, made their home a castle, with their fun festive execution,” Jamie said.
According to Allianz research over half Aussies (54.8 per cent) have decked their homes out with light displays in celebration of Christmas and the majority (80.3 per cent) of people believe festive lights are one of the most important ways of celebrating Christmas in Australia.
Nick Adams, Chief Market Manager at Allianz Australia said: “Christmas really brings the community together and the entries brought to life just how much Christmas light displays contribute to our festive spirit.
“We are so proud to have seen Australians far and wide giving back to their local communities through their lights display, particularly at a time that can be tough for some. It was even more encouraging to see so many families lighting up their homes to raise money for charity and we are pleased to support that effort through the prize money for the families and their chosen charities.
“We want to offer a huge congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all of those who entered – it was definitely stiff competition, and creativity and community spirit was in abundance.
“Nearly two-thirds of Australians who light up their homes do so in order to spread Christmas joy with passers-by and we’ve been thrilled to provide a platform for Australians to do just that. With that in mind, I am pleased to announce Allianz Australia will be hosting Spotlight Your Sparkle in 2020. We can’t wait to see how Australia lights up next year!” said Nick.
