Deck your halls.
It’s that time of year – for the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.
2024 will be the 93rd year of the tradition.
More than 50,000 multicolor LED lights will gleam from the impressively tall tree, per NBC.
It’s topped by a Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, which was first used in 2018.
Here’s everything to know about the event of the season.
How to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in person
The area around Rockefeller Center is public. The tree is above the skating rink at Rockefeller Center between 49th and 50th Streets, and 5th and 6th Avenues.
However, if you want to get close to the tree, you can buy tickets for the event. There are also VIP tickets.
How to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony on TV and on streaming
Coverage starts at 7 p.m. on NBC New York Wednesday, with “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” hosted by Natalie Pasquarella, David Ushery and Mario Lopez.
The national program starts at 8 p.m. ET on NBC as the Rockefeller Center ceremony begins.
It will be broadcast live on NBC and also streamed on Peacock. The program is a two-hour special titled “Christmas in Rockefeller Center.”
For the first time, Spanish-language viewers can also watch Telemundo for a simulcast, “Navidades en Rockefeller Center,” starting at 9 p.m. with the live broadcast.
The tree will be lit at the end of the two-hour program, shortly before 10 p.m.
Who are the performers at the tree lighting ceremony?
Kelly Clarkson will return to host the lighting ceremony and its television special, “Christmas in Rockefeller Center.” The talk show host and former “American Idol” star first performed at the ceremony over two decades ago.
“I love the holidays here in New York,” Clarkson said on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
She added, “Living here during Christmas is like you’re in a movie. There’s nothing like it in the world, especially the tree lighting ceremony.”
In addition to Clarkson, “Today” co-anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin will appear.
There will be musical performances from the Radio City Rockettes, the Backstreet Boys, Broadway star Megan Hilty, Jennifer Hudson, the country duo Dan + Shay and Thalia.
What roads will be closed due to the tree lighting ceremony?
Per the NYPD, there will be road closures on 46th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 47th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 48th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 49th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 50th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 51st Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; 52nd Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue; Rockefeller Plaza between 48th Street and 51st Street; 6th Avenue between 46th Street and 52nd Street and 5th Avenue between 46th Street and 52nd Street.
How is the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree selected?
Erik Pauze, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center, has been in charge of scouting and transporting the tree for over three decades. He started as a summer helper at Rockefeller Center when he was in college in 1988, he told the center’s magazine.
The 58-year-old Long Islander told The Post he scouts “easily” 100 trees in a six-state radius each year.
He told the Post that he’s had this year’s tree on his radar since 2020.
“I would come up over the course of those four years…and kind of keep an eye on it.”
After getting to know the tree and its owner — and overseeing the pampering of the future prize by making sure it was well taken care of — Pauze said that “this year it was just right.”
About his process, Pauze told the Rockefeller Center magazine, “It’s somewhat different every year. Typically, the timeline is that all year, almost every day, I’m thinking about this year’s Tree, next year’s Tree, and maybe the Tree after that.”
He said that he looks for “a tree you would want in your living room” but on a “grander” scale.
“It’s got that nice, perfect shape all around. And most of all, it’s gotta look good for those kids who turn the corner at 30 Rock; it needs to instantly put a huge smile on their faces. It needs to evoke that feeling of happiness. The Norway Spruce is great for the scale it can achieve; it can hold the lights on its branches, and it stands there nice and proud as the Tree should.”
This year’s tree is the first from Massachusetts since 1959. It’s a 74-foot tall, 43-foot-wide Norway spruce from West Stockbridge, and it reportedly weighs 11 tons.
How long will the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree be up and when is it lit?
It arrived at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 9, and it will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight. On Christmas Eve, it will be lit for a full 24 hours. It will be up until mid-January 2025.
What happens to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after the holiday season?
When the tree is taken down, it’s cut and milled into beams. Tishman Speyer, the firm that owns and operates Rockefeller Center, donates the lumber to the nonprofit home-building organization, Habitat for Humanity. So, it will be used to build homes for people in need.
What happened last year and are there plans for protests this year?
Last year, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in the streets surrounding Rockefeller Center. They gathered along Sixth Avenue, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs.
Protesters also chanted “River to the sea,” long seen as an antisemitic slogan, to support Gaza and derail the annual tree lighting.
Additional NYPD units were called in, law enforcement sources told The Post at the time, adding that officers were being attacked. The protest ultimately dissipated just an hour into the ceremony.
