Holidays

Watch: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lights up for holiday season

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight

NBC Universal, Inc.

It’s time! This year’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree is shining bright once again to mark the holiday season in New York City. 

The lights are bright at Rockefeller Center as the 11-ton Norway Spruce outside dazzles once again with tens of thousands of LED lights to mark the holiday season.

While Christmas and holiday decorations have been showing up in New York City over the past few weeks, none represents the start of the season and spirit of NYC than the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

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This year's tree is from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts -- the first tree to come from that state since 1959. The tree is an 11-ton Norway Spruce that's 74-feet tall and 43-feet wide. A Swarovski star crown sparkling with 3 million crystals will top it.

There are more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, connected by approximately five miles worth of wire.

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Kelly Clarkson performs during the 2024 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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Coco Jones performs during the 2024 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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Thalía Sodi performs during the 2024 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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(L-R) Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys perform during the 2024 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — 2024 — Pictured: Raye — (Photo by: Angelina Starn/NBC via Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: US band Little Big Town perform during The Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony in New York on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was lit on Wednesday night, December 4th, 2024, an annual holiday tradition in New York City, United States. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — 2024 — Pictured: (l-r) Chuck Scarborough, Al Roker — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC via Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — 2024 — Pictured: (l-r) Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker — (Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC via Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — Season 2024 — Pictured: Megan Hilty — (Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC via Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — 2024 — Pictured: The Radio City Rockettes — (Photo by: Jordan Curtis Hughes/NBC via Getty Images)
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CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER — 2024 — Pictured: Dan + Shay — (Photo by: Jordan Curtis Hughes/NBC via Getty Images)

The annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting attracted more than just people. A few snow flurries came down during some star-studded performances next to the iconic skating rink.

Here's a list of the night's performers:

  • Kelly Clarkson
  • The Backstreet Boys
  • Dan + Shay
  • Megan Hilty
  • Jennifer Hudson
  • Coco Jones
  • Little Big Town
  • RAYE
  • Thalia
  • The Radio City Rockettes

When is the Rockefeller Christmas tree lit every day?

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight.

On Christmas Eve, the tree will be lit for an entire 24 hours, whereas on New Year's Eve, the spruce will be illuminated from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

How long will the Rockefeller Christmas tree be up?

Rockefeller's Christmas Tree will be on display to the public through mid-January 2025.

What happens to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after it comes down?

The tree goes from providing Christmas joy to providing housing.

When the tree is taken down, it is laid in Rockefeller Plaza to be cut up and taken to a yard in New Jersey. There it is milled into two-by-four and two-by six beams and branded with a Rockefeller Center stamp. Tishman Speyer, the firm that owns and operates Rockefeller Center, then donates the lumber to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps to build and improve homes across the country.  

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