Rockefeller Center tree lighting is happening tonight in NYC. Here’s what to know.
By Renee Anderson
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NEW YORK (WCBS) — The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting will be held tonight in New York City.
Here’s everything to know about when it starts, how to visit and road closures around the area.
Kelly Clarkson is back to host this year’s tree lighting ceremony, which begins at 8 p.m. with live music and performances. The lights are typically flipped on closer to 10 p.m.
Spectators can start lining up at 4 p.m. to enter at 48th Street or 51st Street along Sixth Avenue.
The Rockefeller Center tree will be lit up from 5 a.m. to midnight through mid-January. On Christmas Eve, it will be lit for 24 hours, and on New Year’s Eve, it will be lit from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It’s located at 30 Rockefeller Center between West 49th and West 50th streets in Manhattan. Visitors traveling by mass transit should use the 47th-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center stop on the B, D, F and M lines.
Tickets can be purchased to skate at the Rockefeller Center ice rink, or to check out the view from the observation decks. For more than $300, you can buy a VIP pass for an up-close tour of the tree and a champagne toast.
The Norway Spruce hails from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the southern Berkshires region. It’s the first tree selected from Massachusetts since 1959.
The tree was cut down on Nov. 7 and arrived in the city on Nov. 9. It’s approximately 70 years old, stands 74 feet tall and weighs 11 tons.
It has been adorned with more than 50,000 colorful lights on 5 miles of wire, and it will be topped with a Swarovski star that weighs 900 pounds and is covered in 3 million crystals.
Organizers say the holiday tradition dates back to 1931 when a group of workers pooled their money to buy a Christmas tree. They decorated the 20-foot tall Balsam Fir with garlands made by their families.
Two years later, Rockefeller Center held the first official tree lighting.
December 1999 holds the record for the largest tree — 100 feet tall from Killingworth, Connecticut.
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