This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree comes from Massachusetts
Photo courtesy of Tishman Speyer
This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been unveiled. The 74-foot-tall Norway Spruce hails from West Stockbridge in Massachusetts—the first tree sourced from the state since 1959—and will be cut down on Thursday, November 7, and make its journey to Manhattan. The spruce arrives at Rockefeller Center on Saturday, November 9. Following the tree’s decoration with thousands of twinkling lights and its iconic Swarovski star, the annual tree lighting ceremony takes place on Wednesday, December 4.
Donated by the Albert Family, the tree measures 43 feet wide, weighs roughly 11 tons, and is approximately 70 years old. The tree was selected by Rockefeller Center’s head gardener Erik Pauze, who has helped locate and transport the beloved holiday tree for over 30 years.
Each tree chosen for Rockefeller Center is typically at its maximum height and has outgrown the property it resides on. Most trees selected are Norway Spruce, prized for their impressive size and sturdy branches that can hold holiday lights, Pauze explained in an interview with The Center Magazine, run by Rockefeller Center.
Following its arrival in Midtown, the tree will be decorated with over 50,000 multi-colored, energy-efficient LED lights stretching across five miles of wire, and its iconic 900-pound Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2018. After the holiday season, the tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
The tree lighting ceremony has been a New York City tradition since 1933 and has been broadcast live on television since 1951.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be on display until mid-January 2025. The tree is lit 24 hours on Christmas Day and from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
The Rink at Rockefeller Center is now open for the holiday season from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily. Tickets start at $21.
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