Brightly lit balcony an eye-popping festival of Christmas colours

It's not quite at the level of Clark Griswold's obsession with festive decorating in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but it could be the most brightly lit balcony in Edmonton.

David Laliberte lives on the ninth floor of Rideau Tower, an apartment highrise on 119th Street just south of Jasper Avenue.

Every year, he decorates his balcony floor to ceiling with about 2,100 coloured LEDs.

"I've done it with my heart, with compassion, because I strongly believe that I'm doing a positive," Laliberte said. (It's) not just a positive effect for myself, but also for the general public who can see it."

The distinct layers of different coloured lights draw your eye from down on the street. Laliberte put them up after Halloween and will leave them there until the spring equinox in March.

For him, the lights aren't just for fun — they also carry deeper meaning.

"I put some philosophies (into assembling the lights). It can be anything. At the beginning, my philosophy (was) that each different colour or layer is representing the Earth's crust," he said.

Laliberte also called the lights a mini Las Vegas or a magic shield. And he believes they can help boost his neighbours's mental health.

"Whatever you're experiencing, emotional issues, I hope that it's a good healer," he said.

"Sometimes when I go outside, take a walk I have this strange feeling that someone who walked on this sidewalk before me had really appreciated (the lights)."   

So far, his neighbours don't have a problem with the bright lights. In fact, his neighbour, whose bedroom window is right next to the lit-up balcony, told him she enjoys looking at them.

Laliberte estimated the lights took him at least 40 hours to install and cost about $3,000, plus $80 worth of plastic tie-wraps to keep them all in place.

He encourages other Edmontonians to light things up at this dark time of year — even if they don't want to go as over the top as he does.

"Simple things can make a big, big positive difference. If (you have) a small light set, why not use it to decorate your window frame or doorframe? Imagine it's a magic portal."