Ringing in the jolly season! The winter holiday season is in full swing thanks to the arrival of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree at the famed New York City plaza.
“We gave it with the expectation that everybody would enjoy it,” Neil Lebowitz, whose family donated the tall spruce, told NPR on November 12 as the tree arrived in Manhattan. “For me, it was just a nice tree. Now it’s a special tree. Everybody around the world can enjoy it.”
A festive evergreen has served as the focal point of Rockefeller Center’s Christmas decorations for more than eight decades, beginning in December 1931. After it is set up on the 30 Rock plaza, the tree will be decorated with more than 50,000 multicolored LED lights and a three-dimensional Swarovski star topper.
“What I look for is a tree you would want in your living room, but on a grander scale,” Erik Pauze, Rockefeller Center’s head gardener, told Rockefeller Magazine in November 2021 how he picks out the annual tree. “It’s got that nice, perfect shape all around. And most of all, it’s gotta look good for those kids who turn the corner at 30 Rock; it needs to instantly put a huge smile on their faces. It needs to evoke that feeling of happiness.”
Pauze added at the time: “The Norway Spruce is great for the scale it can achieve, it can hold the lights on its branches, and it stands there nice and proud as the Tree should.”
Nearly two weeks after the spruce arrived at 30 Rock, holiday enthusiasts will watch the Today show anchors light up the tree for the first time. After the November 30 live ceremony, which airs on NBC, the fir’s decorations will continue to glow until Christmas concludes.
The annual televised special features a number of star-studded musical performances as the morning show broadcasters help usher in the merry season.
“Very few people get to know what it feels like to look at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree up close. I think watching it through the screen is magical,” Hoda Kotb told USA Today in December 2020 of celebrating the holidays amid the coronavirus pandemic. “When we turn the lights on here, New York lights up and we hope it lights up a lot of people that they feel that warm glow from this tree. We hope to give folks at home a feeling of normalcy. We’re still here. The tree is still here.”
Scroll below for everything to know about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting:
