IRL Holiday Light Show: The Miracle on South 13th Street

Every year, the community on South 13th Street in Philadelphia (between Tasker and Morris streets) makes sure they welcome the Holidays with lots of lights. The event starts on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and lasts until a little after New Year’s, with the lights on between 5-11pm.

In this IRL episode of Speedify Live, Scott Ackerman, local resident and Speedify Creative Director, guides us through this awesome community-powered event. He shares behind the scenes information, future plans and more about famous characters and celebrities visiting the Miracle on South 13th Street.

Here are our 5 takeaways from our walkthrough of The Miracle on South 13th Street:

1. Speedify Live has updated its IRL Livestream setup! This time we use an iPhone 12 Pro on a DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Gimbal stabilizer, connected to two Rode Wireless Go II microphones. While we combine one cellular connection with the Wi-Fi Hotspot of another iPhone 12, live camera feed comes through Larix Broadcaster, and the stream itself goes through Restream Studio via RTMP to all the possible livestreaming platforms.
2. This Miracle of a street has its own North Pole with each sign pointing in the direction of one of the sponsors of the event. Local restaurants, shops and other businesses donate to help with the maintenance of the Holiday Display!
3. The street is decorated by its residents. They even rent a cherry picker truck for the bigger displays and overhead lights, while each household decorates their own home however they please. You can find homes inspired by anything from Christmas Vacation to Home Alone to The Grinch.
4. This special Christmas-themed Street is not just for show! This Miracle also serves as an opportunity to give back and spread the love by organizing Charity events such as Food Drives for Philabundance and Toys for Tots Drives.
5. Losing battery power is just as big a Streamergency as losing your connection! So while you can safeguard your IRL livestream by combining multiple connections in Speedify, it’s also important that your camera or phone don’t die. Make sure to have a backup battery pack so you don’t lose your livestream!