This roadside attraction is giving Rockefeller Center a run for its money.
DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, is putting itself on the map with the upcoming lighting of the world’s tallest Christmas tree. Technically, it's a "Christmas tree structure," but it is tall, especially for a town with a population of about 26,000.
At 300 feet, the size of a 28-story building, DeSoto Parish's massive Christmas tree structure is technically a communications tower in the Stonewall Government Plaza, elaborately decorated with over 10,250 LED lights to give the illusion of being a giant tree.
A lighting ceremony on Friday, November 24 brought the year-long project to life along with hot cocoa, cookies, fireworks and Santa himself, of course. Over 500 vehicles drove by to see the lit up tree.
According to a press release from the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office, the idea for the massive Christmas tree came from Sheriff Jayson Richardson.
“It went from a cool idea to we’re going to have the largest tree in the world,” Sheriff Jayson Richardson told local ABC news affiliate KTBS. Local businesses helped sponsor building the structure, which will be illuminated until January.
For comparison, Rockefeller Center's typical Norway Spruce stands between 70 - 100 feet tall. Enid, Oklahoma, has previously held the title for the world's largest Christmas tree, thanks to a 140-foot fir tree. In Indianapolis, the world's formerly largest tree structure, stands at 284 feet, a light display draping the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.