Christmas tree lighting: tips and tricks

4 September 2023

There’s nothing like the twinkle and sparkle you get from string lights, especially when wrapped around your Christmas tree for the festive season. Make the most of our smart string lights by using them as Christmas tree lights or festive decorative lighting – just check out our holiday tips.

Festavia string lights can be used year-round both indoors and outdoors – and during the Christmas season, there is no better place to hang string lights than on your Christmas tree. Read our in-depth guide to hanging lights on a Christmas tree.

If you’ve never used the Philips Hue + Spotify integration, you’re in for a festive treat! You can find this feature in the Sync tab of your Hue app. All you need to do is link your Spotify account (free or paid) to your Philips Hue account.  

Once you’ve got it set up, you can create an Entertainment area with your Festavia string lights and other colour-capable lights in the room. Our favourites? The ambience gradient lightstrip, Signe gradient floor lamp and Go accent light – they make great accents to your tree centrepiece.

With your Christmas lights synced to music, you can create the perfect party vibes or a festive atmosphere for opening gifts. 

Bright idea: When customising your syncing experience, use the Automatic setting for Colour. This way, the app will determine the best color combinations based on the genre of music – in this case, Christmas!

Need some help getting ready for Christmas? Effects are the perfect way to do it! Fireplace, Candle, Opal and more – these effects will have your home looking like it came straight out of a fairytale. Find effects by tapping the Festavia light card, and then tapping the three-stars icon below the colour wheel. Tap the play button on any of the effects to watch your string lights instantly start to change!

Fireplace: Perfect for cosy nights on the couch. Each light will dim and brighten in an orange-red glow, mimicking a roaring fireplace. 

Candle: Add a touch of romance to date night. A gentler effect than Fireplace, Candle lets your string lights dance like flames – reminiscent of (and safer than) the olden days, when people put actual candles in their trees.

Sparkle: Watch your Festavia string lights twinkle like stars in the sky. Using white light along the entire string, it’s a magical touch for a magical festive season. 

Glisten: Like sunlight shimmering on water, this effect makes the lights on the string brighten and dim intensely.

Prism: Get a cascading rainbow effect with your string lights. Cheerful, colourful and perfect when on the Christmas tree. 

Opal: Soft and dreamy, this effect uses pastel colours to create a whimsical sparkling effect.

Festavia string lights are gradient, but they’re unlike any gradient light you’ve seen before. You can still choose three points on the colour wheel, but you’ll see that each of the lights are a different colour. Because of this, there are two Styles you can choose from: Linear, Mirror or Scattered.

The Linear style extends the gradient of colour along the entire length of the string. The Scattered style takes the colours of the scene and mixes them up along its length, offering a fun alternative.

Best yet? You can apply these Styles to any scene, whether it’s from the Hue scene gallery or one you have customised.

Whether you set a scene for all the lights in the room or just the Christmas tree lights themselves, you can customise your look to transform your space into a true festive wonderland.  

Because Festavia string lights can display a gradient of colour, all of the colours of a scene will appear across all the lights. Want to make even more of an impact? Tap the play button on the scene card to make it dynamic – and watch the lights transition through the colours of that scene. 

If you're looking for the right lighting, check the Hue scene gallery. Christmas lighting doesn't have to be just red and green – the Hue scene gallery is full of scenes specially created by lighting designers to fill your home with colourful light. Since Festavia string lights are gradient compatible, a scene will appear on your lights as a gradient of colour. In the Hue app, go to the Room your string lights are in and scroll to the right in My scenes until you reach the end. Tap Hue scene gallery to browse and save your favourites to My scenes.

Bright idea: The Hue scene gallery has an entire collection of festive scenes! Check out the Holiday category to try out Under the tree, Golden star, Silent night and more.  

If you can't find exactly what you want in the Hue scene gallery, don't worry – you can create your own! Tap on Festavia's light card to see the colour picker, where you can choose the colours you like. Tap the three dots (…) icon and select Save as new scene to save your creation for future use.

You can even create a scene where the Christmas tree lights are playing an effect, such as Candle, while the rest of the room is set to complementary colours. This creates a sense of balance while allowing your tree to stand out. Set a scene on the Room that your string lights are in, and then tap the Festavia light card. Tap the effects icon (three stars) and start playing the one you like. Save these settings as a new scene to set it even easier! 

Bright idea: Group the lights you want to use for Christmas decorations into a Zone, so you can control them all together. This makes it easy to get that harmonious colour effect when setting a scene.

Have a favourite holiday photo? Use the colours from the photo to create a customised scene for your Festavia string lights. In the Hue app, open the Room your string lights are in and tap the blue plus (+) icon. Tap Use photo and select the photo you want to use for your scene.