NEW YORK — One of the world’s most famous trees is ready to shine and sparkle once again.
A tradition spanning over nine decades, the annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree lighting special will air Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT on NBC.
Emmy and Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson will return to host the annual two-hour holiday affair.
Hailing from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, this year's Rockefeller Christmas tree is a Norway spruce, standing 74 feet tall. The tree has been decorated with 50,000 LED lights and a Swarovski star crown sparkling with 3 million crystals.
It is the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to come from Massachusetts since 1959. When the tree is taken down in January, it will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
When is the Christmas in Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony?
The annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree lighting special will air Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT on NBC.
Clarkson will host the lighting special from the spot that is now also home to her talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
This year marks the 21st anniversary of Clarkson's first “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” performance, and she has performed a handful of times since.
“Today” anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin will also join the tree lighting live from Manhattan.
The ceremony will also have performances by the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Thalia, and the Radio City Rockettes.
This year's ceremony will also stream on Peacock for the fourth time.
Rockefeller Christmas tree history
The tradition of the Rockefeller Christmas tree dates back more than 92 years to 1931 during the Great Depression.
The first official tree lighting ceremony occurred two years later in 1933 in front of the then eight-month-old RCA Building (the current Comcast Building).
The Christmas tree gathering was enhanced in 1936 with the opening of the Rockefeller Plaza outdoor ice-skating rink.
NBC-TV televised the tree lighting for the first time in 1951 on “The Kate Smith Show” and as part of the nationwide “Howdy Doody” television show from 1953-55.
In 2023, the 80-foot Norway spruce came from Vesta, New York.
In 2022, the tree was a 82-foot-tall, 50-foot-wide Norway spruce from Queensbury, New York.
In 2021, the Rockefeller Christmas tree was a 79-foot-tall, 46-foot-wide Norway spruce from Elkton, Maryland.
Rockefeller tree owl of 2020
In 2020, the Center's tree received worldwide attention after a worker setting up the tree discovered a northern saw-whet owl inside. The owl, dubbed Rockefeller, made the 170-mile journey from upstate New York to the Big Apple in the tree.
The bird was taken to the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in the Hudson Valley, where she dined on mice before returning to the wild. The center said the northern saw-whet owl is one of the smallest in the northeast.
The owl was honored with her own Frontier Airlines' plane tail as well as a children's book.
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