CANBERRA, Australia — An Australian set his third Christmas-themed world record in as many years Friday by illuminating a tree in downtown Canberra with 518,838 twinkling lights.
Guinness World Records confirmed that David Richards had broken the record for the most lights on an artificial Christmas tree that had been held for five years by Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. That 118-foot Japanese tree had set a new benchmark of 374,280 lights this month.
Richards, a Canberra lawyer and businessman, brought together a team of volunteers including an electrical engineer, structural engineer, welders, carpenters, masons and steel fixers to erect the display on a 72-foot steel tree.
Richards creates such Christmas extravaganzas to raise money for Canberra's Sudden Infant Death Syndrome charity, SIDS and Kids, by drawing large crowds and inviting them to donate.
"Some people say I've got quite a knack for getting people to do things for nothing," Richards said.
He set his first Guinness World Record in 2013 for the most lights on a residential property by covering his suburban home with 502,165 bulbs.
Traffic snarls in his neighborhood created by 75,000 sightseers who visited the display over four weeks made it difficult for his family to get to and from their home and irritated some neighbors. So Richards promised never to try to better that record.
He set his second record a year ago by stringing up 1,194,380 LED lights in a public space. The 75 miles of multicolored wire woven in the shape of three interconnected giant, wrapped Christmas gifts in a Canberra mall was the largest image made of LED lights.