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Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it's hard to deny that one of New York's most iconic annual events is the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center. It's kinda magical and it's part of the city's identity - not a huge surprise since we've been doing it since 1931.
If you wanted to catch the arrival of the tree this year, I'm afraid that moment has passed. The tree was brought to Rockefeller Center on November 9 from Florida, New York. It was quite a spectacle, not surprising given how huge this thing is: 77 feet tall and 12 tons! And it'll be covered in 50,000 LED bulbs. Woof. The tree will be lit up for the first time this year on December 4th at an 8PM event featuring performances from Derek & Julianne Hough, Idina Menzel, Lea Michele, NE-YO, Straight No Chaser, Brett Eldredge, John Legend and Gwen Stefani. The event will be hosted by Today Show anchors Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and Al Roker.
And if you can't make it to midtown that day or you prefer to stay home in Brooklyn with your cat like me, you can always catch the event on TV. The tree will stay lit every evening until January 7, so you've got some time. And once the festivities are over, the tree will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, who will process it to help build houses. Everybody wins!