The magic behind our Christmas lights as told by their designer, Paul Dart

The festive season is a magical time. Winter evenings roll in, people come together and the city gets its sparkle on. It’s a time for celebration, catching up with loved ones and decorating our homes with festive spirit.

But few things bring that Christmas feeling to life quite like a stroll down Regent Street in December, taking in our iconic light displays that make you feel all aglow. A lot of us look up in awe, but without thinking of those who created the lights that we enjoy year after year. In the case of Regent Street, that person is none other than Paul Dart – the mastermind behind our Spirits of Christmas and the man whose job it is to bring to life some of London's most spectacular festive lights.

In 2024, we celebrated 70 years of the Regent Street Christmas lights, marking decades of bringing joy to the heart of London. Now, in 2025, we are celebrating another milestone: the 10th anniversary of the Spirit lights themselves. Together, these anniversaries showcase our long tradition of creativity, magic, craft and community spirit – and Paul is as proud to be a part of this as we are:

“As with every year, it’s about the spirit of Christmas filling Regent Street with a hovering presence of glamour. It’s got to look exciting and extraordinary, it’s got to tell a subliminal story… People want to feel a moment of magic at this time of year. Having these otherworldly Spirits flying down the middle of a beautiful street felt right,” he said, when speaking on the creation of the lights.

Get a sneak peek at the lights (which include over 300,000 LED lights) being installed on Regent Street below.

Paul works for James Glancy Design, the creative studio behind the display, who have masterminded light installations all over the world. “We’ve done a couple of permanent light sculptures in the area and have worked on other projects outside of England, which are more about incorporating the idea of the lights lasting for longer – for example a project around Diwali, the festival of light, in Mumbai in India.” Before working at the studio, however, he was a lead designer for the National Theatre and Frankfurt National Opera and it was here that he discovered his love for using installations to tell stories. “I’m really interested in breaking boundaries and exploring how to communicate this moment of joy.”

So, where does Paul find his inspiration?

“I never look down at my phone, I always look up. Everything is a possible inspiration. You have to constantly ask yourself questions: is this the most interesting, practical and invigorating way of filling the street? Is there another way of doing this? I’m perpetually an outsider looking in.”

His work blends art and engineering, creative expression and technical precision. “One day I’ll be having lots of very technical conversations and the next day I might be at Tate Britain looking at a light sculpture… I don’t see any difference in doing those two things.”

Of course, it is not all sparkle and glamour. “Naturally, a lot of people think of Christmas decorations as fairies on top of the Christmas tree… Well, I hate to break it to them, but on this scale it’s about hard engineering, men in steel cap boots… It can be a very technical thing.”

Paul’s artistic flair has always been part of him. Growing up on a pig farm in the Chiltern Hills might have been far removed from big city life, but it never stopped his imagination. “I used to be obsessed by marionettes; I used to build them full size… I had a room where I was allowed to pull the ceiling in and electrocute myself and do all the things that you’re not supposed to do as a child! I also built a huge swimming pool in the back garden out of sheets of ply and plastic so I could recreate Swan Lake. I was always somebody who enjoyed creating new worlds. Initially it was for my own delectation, but later I became very good at creating worlds for other people, too.”

Much of Paul’s work feels like a reimagining of the past. “I’m an historic person,” he explains. “I actually saw the Spirits that were here on Regent Street in 1961.” He was born the same year the first Christmas lights were switched on, in 1954. “At that time, they just put up cut out stars and lit them with searchlights as there weren’t any pea lights just after the war. And in a funny sort of way I often go back to that way of doing things, but now you also have lots of new technology to use, so I mix and match. People want to take photos of themselves, so these things need to be ‘selfie-friendly’.”

That is the modern challenge: one frame on someone’s Instagram must tell the whole story. “On Regent Street, what we do should appeal to all age groups. So, although I’m almost in retirement I have to think like a 20-year-old at one place and as an older person somewhere else.”

And does Paul get to relax once the lights are up? Not quite. Even as they twinkle above the crowds, he is already thinking about what will come next, always imagining how to make the display even more magical.

Join us this year as Regent Street celebrates a decade of The Spirit of Christmas lights, following 70 years since the first display of festive lights on our iconic Curve. The lights will shine from 6 November 2025, so plan your visit, take in the glow, and rediscover the wonder of Regent Street this season.