Year-Round Permanent Light Calendar

The number one question people ask after getting permanent outdoor lights: "What do I do with them after Christmas?"

The answer: everything. Permanent lights are not Christmas lights that stay up. They are a year-round lighting system that happens to be incredible at Christmas. From Valentine's Day to Halloween, game day to a Tuesday night dinner on the patio, your lights work for every occasion, every month, every season.

This is your complete month-by-month calendar for getting the most out of your permanent outdoor LED lighting system all year long.

Why year-round lighting matters

Before the calendar, here is why this matters beyond aesthetics:

• Curb appeal 365 days a year. A home with a clean warm white glow looks finished and maintained every single night. Not just in December. Homes with strong curb appeal sell for 7% more.
• Security every night. A well-lit roofline deters break-ins. Studies show outdoor lighting cuts crime by 39%. Your lights double as a security system.
• Cost per use drops fast. A $3,500 system used for 20+ occasions per year over 15 years works out to about $12 per "decoration change." Compare that to $50 to $200 each time you buy seasonal decor.
• No storage, no ladders, no hassle. One system replaces bins of tangled string lights, lawn inflatables, and seasonal decor that lives in your garage 11 months a year.

Your 12-month permanent lighting calendar

January: Fresh start

The holiday decorations come down across the neighbourhood, but your house still looks great. This is the month to settle into your everyday look.

• Warm white (2700K to 3000K) for clean, architectural curb appeal. This is the look realtors love for listing photos.
• Soft amber for a cozy winter glow on dark January evenings.
• New Year's countdown: Gold and silver on December 31, then transition to warm white for the rest of the month.

Pro tip: Set up a sunset-to-midnight schedule in the GOULY app and let it run automatically. You will forget the lights are even on a schedule, and your house will look incredible every night.

February: Love and football

• Valentine's Day (Feb 14): Pink, red, and soft lavender. Alternate red and pink pucks or run a slow fade between the two.
• Super Bowl Sunday: Your team's colours on full display. Split your roofline into two zones if you have fans of both teams in the house.
• Family Day (Feb 17 in Alberta): Warm white with a soft amber accent for a cozy family evening.

All month: Return to warm white or soft amber between events. The beauty of permanent lights is that switching takes 10 seconds in the app.

March: Spring is coming

• St. Patrick's Day (Mar 17): Green and gold. Classic.
• Spring equinox: Transition from winter whites to soft pastels. Light green, lavender, or pale yellow signal the season change.
• Autism Awareness (April 2 falls early, light it up from late March): Solid blue. A simple, visible way to show support.

All month: As daylight gets longer, adjust your schedule. Push the start time later to match sunset.

April: Colour returns

• Easter weekend: Pastels — soft pink, lavender, yellow, and cyan. A gentle, warm palette that works for the entire weekend.
• Earth Day (Apr 22): Green. Simple, recognizable.
• Spring evenings: The snow is melting and evenings on the deck are coming back. Warm white sets the mood for the first outdoor dinners of the season.

Browse our Easter light designs for specific colour palettes and patterns.

May: Celebrations

• Mother's Day (2nd Sunday): Pink and white. Soft, elegant. See our Mother's Day light designs for inspiration.
• Victoria Day long weekend (May 19 in 2026): Red and white for the unofficial start of summer.
• Graduations: School colours on full display. If your grad is coming home to a house lit in their school colours, that is a moment.

All month: Evenings are warm enough for the patio. Keep a warm white base and switch to event colours as needed.

June: Long days, bright nights

• Pride Month: Rainbow across your roofline. Six zones, six colours. If your system has fewer zones, run a slow rainbow cycle.
• Graduations continue: School colours for any June grads in the family.
• Summer solstice (Jun 20): The longest day of the year. Celebrate with a warm sunset-orange glow as the light finally fades at 10 PM.
• Father's Day (3rd Sunday): Blue, grey, and white. See our Father's Day designs.

All month: With sunset after 9 PM in Alberta, your lights run for fewer hours. Adjust your schedule to start later and save energy.

July: Canada Day and summer parties

• Canada Day (Jul 1): Red and white. All night. See our Canada Day designs.
• Fourth of July (Jul 4) for cross-border families: Red, white, and blue.
• Summer entertaining: This is peak patio season. Warm white for dinner parties, soft amber for evening drinks, or colourful party mode for a backyard barbecue.

Pro tip: Set your GOULY app to "warm white at sunset" as the daily default, and switch to party colours on demand. One tap.

August: Last stretch of summer

• Civic Holiday long weekend (Aug 3): Alberta gold and blue.
• Back-to-school: Light up in your kid's school colours the night before the first day.
• End-of-summer parties: Go bold. Tropical colours — teal, coral, warm yellow — for one last outdoor gathering.

All month: Sunsets start getting earlier again. Push your schedule start time back toward 9 PM.

September: Football season and fall colours

• Labour Day (Sep 1): Red and white.
• Football season kicks off: CFL and NFL are in full swing. Calgary Flames preseason starts too. Your house, your team's colours, every game night.
• Childhood Cancer Awareness (all month): Gold. A subtle, meaningful display.
• Fall transition: Start shifting from summer brights to autumn tones. Amber, burnt orange, deep red.

Browse all sports team designs for your team's exact colours.

October: Halloween and fall harvest

The biggest permanent lighting month after December. Halloween is where your system really shows off.

• Thanksgiving (2nd Monday in Canada): Warm amber, gold, burnt orange, and deep red. A harvest palette.
• Breast Cancer Awareness (all month): Pink. Run it alongside Halloween for the first two weeks, then go full Halloween.
• Halloween (Oct 31): Purple, orange, and green. Or go horror-mode with red and white strobes. The GOULY app has dozens of Halloween patterns including flicker, chase, and fade effects.

All month: This is where permanent lights pay for themselves in fun. No inflatables, no extension cords, no untangling. Just tap and go.

November: Gratitude and transition

• Remembrance Day (Nov 11): Red poppy lights. A single, respectful red glow or red-and-white. See our Remembrance Day designs.
• Grey Cup / NFL deep season: Team colours every game day.
• Late November: Start transitioning to holiday colours. Some homeowners switch to Christmas lights the day after Remembrance Day. Others wait until December 1. Your call, and you do not need a ladder for either option.

December: The main event

This is what permanent lights were born for. No ladder, no tangled strings, no frozen fingers. Just open the app and pick your scene.

• Classic Christmas: Red and green with warm white accents.
• Elegant white Christmas: All warm white (2700K) for a clean, sophisticated look. The most popular choice for real estate showings.
• Candy cane: Alternating red and white pucks.
• Winter wonderland: Cool white and ice blue.
• Hanukkah: Blue and white, or blue and silver.
• New Year's Eve (Dec 31): Transition to gold and silver sparkle. Chase patterns and music sync for the countdown.

Browse all Christmas light designs for specific colour combinations and patterns.

Beyond holidays: everyday uses

The calendar above covers the big events, but some of the best uses for permanent lights are not on any calendar:

Daily curb appeal

A warm white glow every evening makes your home look like a magazine cover. Set it and forget it. Your neighbours will notice.

Security lighting

Schedule lights to run from dusk to dawn. A lit roofline is a visible deterrent. See our security lighting guide for more.

Outdoor entertaining

Dinner on the patio? Warm amber. Birthday party? The guest of honour's favourite colour. Watching the game outside? Team colours across the roofline while you grill.

Milestone moments

• Gender reveals: Neutral white, then switch to pink or blue on cue.
• Welcome home: Yellow ribbon gold for military homecomings. School colours for a grad coming home.
• Engagement celebrations: Soft pink and white.
• New baby: Pink or blue glow the night you bring them home.

Community and causes

• Pink for breast cancer (October)
• Blue for autism awareness (April)
• Gold for childhood cancer (September)
• Orange for Every Child Matters (September 30)
• Rainbow for Pride (June)

Your house becomes a visible statement of support. No signs, no banners — just light.

Smart scheduling tips

The GOULY app handles scheduling automatically once you set it up:

• Sunset trigger: Lights turn on at sunset, which adjusts automatically as days get longer or shorter. No manual changes needed.
• Off timer: Set lights to turn off at midnight, 11 PM, or whenever you prefer. Save energy while you sleep.
• Holiday presets: Set your Christmas scene on December 1 and it runs until you change it. Same for Halloween, Easter, or any occasion.
• Zone control: Run warm white on the front and party colours on the back patio. Different zones, different scenes, same system.
• Music sync: Connect to a speaker for synchronized light shows at parties, holidays, or just for fun.

For smart home integration, see our Alexa and Google Home setup guide.

The "are permanent lights tacky?" myth

Let us address this directly. Leaving temporary Christmas lights up year-round is tacky. Faded C9 bulbs dangling from rusty clips in July is not a good look.

Permanent outdoor lighting is a completely different thing. The track is hidden and colour-matched to your soffits. During the day, most people cannot tell it is there. At night, you choose what to display: elegant warm white, bold team colours, or nothing at all. The system is off by default. You control when it runs and what it shows.

This is architectural lighting with colour options, not Christmas lights that stayed up.

Getting started

If you already have permanent lights, open the GOULY app and start exploring designs for the current season. Browse our 1,000+ pre-built designs or create your own custom scenes.

If you do not have permanent lights yet, get a free quote and we will show you what your home could look like, every month, all year long.

Ready to light up every season?

See the GOULY appSee real installs