After growing and growing for more than six decades, the majestic, 11-ton Norway Spruce from Massachusetts is now on its way to Manhattan, where it will be the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. NBC New York’s Maria LaRosa reports.
Hold on to your turkeys. It's time for tinsels and cutting down the Rockefeller Christmas tree.
The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree hails from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts — the first tree to come from that state since 1959. It was cut down around 8 a.m. Thursday.
The tree joining what is now NBC's annual tradition is an 11-ton Norway Spruce. It's 74-feet tall and 43-feet wide, according to Rockefeller Center. The tree is set to arrive in the city later this month ahead of the lighting.
Here's everything we know so far about the festivities and more fun facts about the annual extravaganza.
When is the Rockefeller Christmas tree arriving?
The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be cut down from West Stockbridge on Nov. 7 before it travels roughly 140 miles to Manhattan. It will arrive in the plaza on Saturday, Nov. 9, and be hoisted into place.
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How will the tree be decorated?
After arriving on Center Plaza, more than 50,000 multi-colored LEDs will be strung over about 5 miles of wire to adorn the 2024 tree. It will then be crowned with a 9-foot, 900-pound Swarovski star covered in 3 million crystals.
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When is the tree lighting?
The tree lighting show is set to kick off at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 4. You'll be able to watch NBC's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" in a live broadcast on TV, on Peacock and wherever you stream NBC.
Here's a brief history of the tree-lighting
- 1931 – Construction workers building Rockefeller Center put up a Christmas tree, the first-ever Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
- 1933 - First formal Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony. The tree was decked with 700 lights in front of the eight-month-old RCA Building.
- 1936 - Two trees, each 70 feet (21.3 m) tall, were erected. For the first time the Lighting Ceremony included a skating pageant on the newly opened Rockefeller Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Pond.
- 1942 - Three trees were placed on Rockefeller Plaza, one decorated in red, one in white and one in blue to show support for our troops serving during 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 from outside the United States was erected. It was given by Canada, in honor of the Centennial of its Confederation. This is the farthest distance a tree has traveled to Rockefeller Center.
- 1980 - For the 50th tree lighting, a 70-foot-tall (21.3 m) Norway Spruce came from the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Seminary of Mahwah, N.J. Bob Hope participated in the lighting.
- 1999 – The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history, 100 feet tall, came from Killingworth, Connecticut.
- 2004 – The Swarovski-designed star became the largest star to ever grace the tree.
- 2007 – For the first time, the tree was lit with energy-efficient LEDs. They draw a fraction of the power that had been traditionally required by the tree, 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 atop one of the Rockefeller Center buildings help power the new LEDs.
- 2021 – For the first time, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree comes from Maryland.
What happens to the Rockefeller Center tree after the Holidays?
The tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is a long-term tenant of 30 Rockefeller Center.
