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It's Christmastime in the city! Tonight, Wednesday, December 1, 2021 is the annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting in New York City.
The tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center is open to the public tonight on a first come first serve basis. If you're taking the more comfortable option, you can watch the tree lighting from your home on NBC or streamed on Peacock. This year’s pre-show celebration begins at 7:00PM and the main event begins at 8:00PM hosted by Today show anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin and Al Roker. There will be performances by The Rockettes, Carrie Underwood, Mickey Guyton, Harry Connick Jr., Brad Paisley, Alessia Cara, Norah Jones, Rob Thomas and the Broadway cast of Come From Away.
According to the New York Times, this year’s tree comes from a farm in Elkton, Maryland and is an 85-year-old Norway spruce that is 79 feet tall and weighs nearly 12 tons. The tree is wrapped in more than 50,000 multicolored LED lights with a three-dimensional star designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind featuring 70 spikes covered in three million Swarovski crystals.
After the lighting, you can visit the tree in Rockefeller Center during daily viewing hours from 6:00AM to 12:00AM. Additionally, the tree will be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Day, and on New Year’s Eve from 6:00AM to 9:00PM.
Merry New York Christmas!