The first-ever Home for the Holidays Christmas lights contest benefiting the Barber National Institute kicked off Saturday evening  with a drive-thru event at Greengarden Place.

A number of Erie-area homes and businesses all shining brightly for the holidays are part of this inaugural fundraiser.

People getting into the holiday spirit lined up at PopLuck Gourmet Popcorn to receive early access to an interactive online tour map of the holiday lights entered into the contest.

The first 100 visitors received Light Up popcorn, which was created exclusively for the event, from PopLuck.

HAPPI 92.7 played holiday music as people drove up to make donations, get some popcorn and talk to Santa - all while staying safe in their cars.

"We had to cancel our ball this year because of the pandemic, but we had this great idea of having a house lighting contest," said Laura Schaaf from the Barber National Institute. "Everybody's coming tonight. We have maps and a specialty popcorn from PopLuck, and gift cards from everyone here in the plaza. We're just passing those things out, handing out the maps and then encouraging everyone to head out and see the lights and then go to our website and vote."

Voting for these decked out homes and businesses runs now thru Jan. 1. You can find a full list of participants and details on how to vote online here.