More than three dozen specialty cars wrapped in Christmas lights will cruise through New England on Saturday night, a rolling holiday light show meant to reignite the region’s embattled car enthusiast community while delighting spectators along the way.
“The season really didn’t end so well because of what happened in Boston, and the car scene’s not really in a good look,” said Deven McCurry, 23, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
“Hopefully, this kind of shows out and makes up for it. We want to end this season with a bang, with a new spark to the community,” said McCurry.
McCurry is aware the event may draw attention from police, especially given current tensions between the car community and law enforcement.
Cities across Massachusetts were plagued by “street takeovers” this past fall — an event with the sole purpose of creating chaos, where cars block intersections so participants can perform burnouts and donuts.
One night in early October saw four back-to-back takeovers in just three hours across multiple communities, including Boston. In that incident, a Boston police cruiser was set on fire with fireworks while an officer was still inside as a 100-person crowd gathered, leading to the arrests of three teenagers from out of state.
These violent incidents have tarnished the car community’s reputation, McCurry and other car event organizers said. It’s led to difficulties in obtaining permits for car shows, or formal events hosted by LLC organizers. These have event insurance, town or city permits and partnerships with businesses or police to use public or private property.
- Read more: ‘Art on wheels’: Inside the Mass. car culture being threatened by dangerous street takeovers
McCurry runs Station Nation Auto Club and regularly hosts large-scale car meets — casual social gatherings for automotive enthusiasts — in the Raising Cane’s parking lot in Seekonk.
His “Christmas Cruise” event will kick off at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire, where McCurry plans to have his own 2009 Lincoln Town Car decked out with electrified strands of Christmas lights alongside about 40 other car owners.
From there, he’ll lead the group in a lighted parade toward Boston, stopping at Lowell’s Cross Point along the way. The route will pass the Warrior Ice Arena and may include the Boston Common before concluding at La Salette Shrine in Attleboro between 7:30 and 9 p.m.
Takeover participants “don’t really have a clear vision of what it is to be an automotive enthusiast,” Gil Perez, 28, of Weymouth, previously told MassLive. He owns auto repair shop Stop & Stance in Pembroke and runs the StanceInn car crew.
“True enthusiasts don’t want to damage their vehicles by going to the street to start doing burnouts … it’s like a disorganized street party,” Perez said.
For his “Christmas Cruise” event on Saturday, McCurry said he has spoken with Massachusetts State Police and was verbally told that “they ‘can’t control what we do,’” McCurry said.
“It’s just, there’s some troopers who will not acknowledge it, but there’s some troopers that will,” he said.
Though there are no specific laws against adorning cars with Christmas lights in Massachusetts, there are laws that prevent the public from putting blue and red lights on cars, along with flashing, rotating or oscillating light and neon undercarriages. Driver visibility also cannot be impacted in any way.
McCurry intends to keep the crew in check and let first-timers know they should stay behind each other on the road. There will be no racing, McCurry said, and “if you are caught doing anything of the sort, we will send you home.”
“We’re just going to be making memories, making sure everyone has a good time,” McCurry said.
“Especially through the holidays, things may be getting tough — you see a car with a bunch of Christmas lights, and it’s a cool car, it kind of makes your night a little bit better.”
