You can see the glow of Dirranbandi in Queensland's south-west long before you reach the outskirts of town.
The drought may have taken its toll on the small community but with Christmas approaching, a local duo is spearheading a campaign to brighten the town.
Sian Hardie said the inspiration came from the town's surrounding farm properties and the Christmas decorations hung on their front gates.
"They look great, but as soon as you got to town, Christmas felt over," she said.
"We thought if there's any time we need a spark of Christmas, it's this year.
"After seven years of drought, I'd noticed that mental health was declining in town as well. I just wanted to put a spark back in town."
And from that small idea, big things grew.
"We ended up going next level," her friend Amber Stewart said.
'It was magical'
The town's progress association secured a grant, which meant they could turn their Christmas-lights idea into a much bigger, year-round display.
"There was a whole lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through, but it's been worth it," Ms Stewart said.
The whole town got involved to build structures and install lights on trees.
"We had quite a big turnout to hang lights, in over 40-degree heat," Ms Hardie said.
But they reckon the end product has been well worth the work.
"When they switched on the lights it was magical," Ms Stewart said.
"For a moment, I didn't think I was in Dirranbandi.
"It gave me such a warm feeling to walk out and see everyone smiling."
Ms Hardie said lighting up the town had transformed the community.
"It's exciting. It's our version of Times Square," she said.
"The landscape is so bare at the moment, you can see so far, so as you drive into town at night you get a feeling from the glow that the town is still alive.
"It reminds me of South Bank in Brisbane too; having an avenue of fairy lights in the trees is a happy place.
"It was just to give our people something other than the drought to look at."
Plans are already underway for Christmas 2020 in the town.
"We thought we might as well build on the installation each year, play movies in the park and have night markets," Ms Hardie said.
She said her favourite part of Dirranbandi's new lights was seeing what it had done for the town's youngest citizens.
"It's been really good for the kids," she said.
"They probably see too much and hear too much of the struggles of mum and dad so to be allowed to be kids and just enjoy simple things like this is pretty special."
