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Patrick Mach harbored a Texas-sized dream of competing on ABC’s The big Christmas light match. When he finally got the call, he built Texas. The Mach Christmas exhibition – a massive, walk-through attraction in the North Texas town of Ennis – will compete in the hit reality competition on Thursday, December 19.

They will battle three other families around the country for $50,000, a trophy and serious bragging rights.

“It’s a bucket-list item to be on the show,” says Mach. “I’ve always wanted to be in since the first season.” (The show is now in season 12.)

The Mach family – Patrick and wife Natasha and their four children, Natalie (17), Ethan (16), Noelle (12) and Brandon (11) – all pitched in to create the display and will appear in the show.

The family lives on a “mini-ranch” in the Ennis-Alma area, about 40 minutes south of Dallas. (Ennis is famous for his Bluebonnet Trails in the spring.) Three and a half acres of their 10-acre property is taken over by their Christmas light extravaganza every holiday season. It even has its own electricity meter.

“Texas” uses half a million lights, 200 inflatables and custom-built pieces to depict 40 towns and cities across the Lone Star State (though not actually in the shape of Texas). Each is marked with a green city boundary sign and has a vignette representing the city.

San Antonio has a giant, 8-foot-tall Alamo outlined in lights and a River Walk bridge that crosses a blue river. “Space City” Houston has rockets and Buzz Lightyear, and “Live Music Capital” Austin has a guitar with strings that “play”. (A custom Texas Capitol building will be built for next year’s display.)

The Fort Worth section nods to Texas Motor Speedway and the Fort Worth Herd.Photo courtesy of ABC

Fort Worth is getting longhorns and a Texas Motor Speedway-inspired racetrack, complete with “Lightning McQueen” and “Tow Mater” Disney/Pixar characters. Dallas has a custom wireframe outline of the skyline, plus Dallas Cowboys inflatables and an entire section devoted to the State Fair.

The smaller town displays in Texas are just as creative: Glen Rose has dinosaurs, College Station has Texas A&M-inspired military drummers, New Braunfels has a polar bear floating along the river, and Ennis, of course, has bluebonnets.

The Glen Rose section has dinosaurs.Photo courtesy of ABC

In a nodThe big Christmas light match host Carter Oosterhouse, they added Carter, Texas — yes, an actual town in Parker County — just for the show. It included a mural of Oosterhouse riding a bull. The host, says Mach, was impressed.

Love for Christmas
The Machs’ drive to light a Texas-sized spectacle comes from their deep love of Christmas. Patrick and Natasha met on a dating app when she “hearted” his Christmas photo. On one of their first dates, during the pandemic, they saw one Big Christmas light match marathon. He proposed to her on his Christmas light display at home. They married in a Christmas-themed wedding three years ago, and Santa even made an appearance.

Patrick Mach had grown up loving Christmas and putting up with his father, from whom he learned carpentry. His father gave him an old-fashioned crib in 2004; he then died on 30 December 2006.

“So since he passed so close to Christmas, every year I did a little bit more to keep an eye on what was going on … then it just got so big,” says Mach.

In fact, Mach had been nominated for Easy fightevery year since 2019. He never thought he was ready.

“It took a couple of years to commit,” he says, “then 2023 came and we said, ‘Let’s go’.”

The family found out they had made the show in September 2023. Filming would take place around Thanksgiving. Each member of the family, plus an army of friends, worked from a “battle plan” to design and build the display, which would be greatly expanded for the show.

“From 2022 to 2023, we doubled the display,” he says. “It was all hands on deck. We were still working on it the day they showed up (to film).”

The shoot lasted a few days and was an “amazing experience,” says Mach. The crew became like family.

“Behind the scenes we were always cutting up, laughing, the kids became friends with the producers,” he says. “We still text the producers every once in a while and a cameraman brought us a Christmas display item that he doesn’t use and would go to a good family.”

Two things that surprised him behind the scenes: how strict they were about using copyrighted characters and images (no Grinches allowed), and how grueling the filming was.

“After we filmed, I had the best sleep I’d had in months,” he jokes.

The Mach Family with Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse.Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

He remains tight-lipped about the outcome of the show. But if the family wins, he wants to use the $50,000 for a well-deserved vacation. They are the fourth Texas Graduates on this season of Easy fight; so far no one has won.

See it in person
Win or lose, the Mach Christmas Display will remain lit for the public to walk through and enjoy on select nights through the holidays. (See their Facebook page for the schedule.) There is no charge to see it, but they collect donations for local charities such as Toys for Tots, Helping Hands of Ennis and the SPCA.

It can be a little tricky to find and GPS doesn’t always route to the right place so they advise visitors to use the pin they lost on Google Maps.

Although the Machs have attracted visitors from several hours away, they remain focused on sharing their love of Christmas with their community.

“Ennis is a smaller town and it’s our way of giving back to the community,” says Mach, “giving families something to do around the holidays because there’s nothing around here like this.”

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The Machs’ episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight airs at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 19 on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu the next day. The Mach Christmas Display is open on select nights throughout the holiday season; follow theirs Facebook page for schedule and more information. The address is 171 FM1183, Ennis, 75119. Follow the directions by the pin on Google Maps. For lists of Fort Worth’s best Christmas lights, go here and here.