Watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree being cut down – NBC New York

by Junna Base November 7, 2024

Keep your turkeys. It’s time for tinsel and cutting down the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree comes from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts – the first tree from that state since 1959. It is expected to be cut down around 8 a.m. Thursday. Watch it live in the player above.

The tree joining NBC’s annual tradition is an 11-ton spruce. According to Rockefeller Center, it is 74 feet tall and 43 feet wide. The tree is expected to arrive in the city ahead of the lighting later this month.

Here’s everything we know about the celebrations so far, plus other fun facts about the annual extravaganza.

Meet the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of Tishman Speyer) ()

When is the Rockefeller Christmas tree coming?

The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be cut down Nov. 7 in West Stockbridge before traveling about 140 miles to Manhattan. It will arrive on the square and be lifted into place on Saturday November 9th.

The tree’s arrival is expected to be a spectacle as always, and according to organizers, there will be fun family activities for holiday lovers at the South Plaza from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Rock and Roll Playhouse will perform kid-friendly Christmas classics and there will also be story times with independent bookstore McNally Jackson. Little ones also have the opportunity to write letters to Santa, decorate their own decorations and even have their faces painted.

The festivities are free to the public, but those who register in advance will receive a free treat upon check-in. Click here for more details.

How is the tree decorated?

Upon arrival at Center Plaza, more than 50,000 multicolored LEDs will be strung over approximately 5 miles of wire to decorate the 2024 tree. It is then topped with a 9-foot-tall, 900-pound Swarovski star covered in 3 million crystals.

When will the tree be lit?

The tree lighting show is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, December 4th at 7pm ET. You can watch NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” live on TV, on Peacock and wherever you stream NBC 4 New York.

Here is a brief history of tree lighting

1931 – Construction workers building Rockefeller Center put up a Christmas tree, the first-ever Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
1933 – First formal tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. The tree in front of the eight-month-old RCA building was decorated with 700 lights.
1936 – Two trees were erected, each 70 feet (21.3 m) tall. For the first time, the lighting ceremony included an ice skating competition on the newly opened Rockefeller Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Pond.
1942 – Three trees, one red, one white and one blue, were placed in Rockefeller Plaza to support our troops serving in World War II.
1949 – The tree was painted silver to look like snow.
1951 – The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was lit for the first time on national television on The Kate Smith Show.
1966 – The first tree outside the United States was erected. It was awarded by Canada in honor of the centennial of its Confederation. This is the furthest a tree has traveled to Rockefeller Center.
1980 – For the 50th Tree Lighting, a 70-foot (21.3 m) spruce tree came from the grounds of Immaculate Conception Seminary in Mahwah, New Jersey. Bob Hope took part in the lighting.
1999 – The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history, 100 feet tall, came from Killingworth, Connecticut.
2004 – The star designed by Swarovski became the largest star ever to grace the tree.
2007 – For the first time, the tree was illuminated with energy-efficient LEDs. They use only a fraction of the electricity the tree traditionally required, reducing energy consumption from 3,510 kWh to 1,297 kWh per day, saving as much energy as a family would use in a month in a 2,000 square foot home. Hundreds of solar panels on one of Rockefeller Center’s buildings help power the new LEDs.
2021 – For the first time, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree comes from Maryland.