Lights and star performances: NYC celebrates the iconic Christmas tree!

Lights and star performances: NYC celebrates the iconic Christmas tree!

With the spectacular lighting of over 50,000 colorful lights on the legendary Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, New York officially ushered in the holiday season on December 5, 2024. Despite freezing temperatures and a recent shooting, this sparkling highlight of the holiday season drew thousands of visitors who gathered to see stars like Jennifer Hudson and the Backstreet Boys perform. The event was broadcast live on television and represents a long-standing tradition of the city, celebrated since the 1930s, while surrounding streets were closed to traffic to provide a safe environment for spectators crown reported.

This year's tree, the 22 meter high spruce from Massachusetts, is crowned by a star weighing around 400 kilograms, which was designed by the renowned designer Daniel Libeskind. This 11-ton spruce tree is the first to come from Massachusetts since 1959, and it is adorned by about five miles of cable with LED lights that glow in the dark, like NBC New York added. A few snowflakes even fell during the lighting, adding a special festive touch to the glamorous event.

A gift for the future

The Rockefeller Christmas tree will remain visible to the public until mid-January 2025. After the holidays, it will be dismantled and the wood will be used for charitable purposes, turning it into building materials that will benefit Habitat for Humanity. In this way, the tree that brought joy and light to the city is given a second, useful life phase in which it helps to create living space in different communities.