The Rockefeller Center announced which will be its Christmas tree for 2026. It is a Norwegian spruce (Norway spruce) of about 75 years, 23 meters high and 15 meters wide, coming from West Edmeston, a small town in the central part of New York State, about 320 kilometers from Manhattan. The tree weighs about 11 tons and was donated by Rebecca Decker, owner of the land on which it grew.
The program to bring it to New York has already been defined. On Thursday, November 5, the tree will be knocked down and prepared for transport, while on Saturday, November 7, it will arrive at Rockefeller Plaza, where it will be placed in front of the skyscraper of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza, above the famous ice rink. The Meet the Tree Day, a day of free activities organised to welcome the tree, will take place this year for the second time.
Erik Pauzé, the head of the Rockefeller Center gardens, has chosen the fir-tree for over thirty years. The research generally focuses on specimens grown in private property, which have reached difficult dimensions to manage for the owners. After removal, the Rockefeller Center replaces them with new trees or other plants.
Erik Pauzé (il quarto da sinitra) e alcuni operai in posa durante la consegna dell’albero di Natale nel novembre 2022 (via Shutterstock)
Once arrived in Manhattan, the fir-tree will be decorated with over 50 thousand multicoloured LED lights, distributed along about eight kilometers of cables. On the top will be placed the Swarovski star designed in 2018 by architect Daniel Libeskind: it weighs about 400 kilograms, has 70 tips and is covered with three million crystals.
The official ignition is scheduled for Wednesday 2 December, during the traditional Christmas ceremony in Rockefeller Center, broadcast live by the NBC. The event will take place between 19 and 22 and will be accompanied by musical performances. There are no public tickets to attend the ceremony in the reserved area, but it will be possible to follow it from the surrounding streets, to exhaustion of the available spaces.
The tree will remain at the Rockefeller Center until 9 January 2027. At the end of the holidays will be removed, cut and transformed into construction timber, which will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization that contributes to the construction and renovation of homes for families with economic difficulties. The collaboration has been active since 2007 and over the years the wood of the Rockefeller Center trees has been used in different homes in the United States.
The tradition of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree dates back to 1931, when the complex was still under construction. The workers themselves collected the money needed to buy a small fir-tree, decorating it with garlands made by their families. The first official ignition ceremony was organized two years later, in 1933. Since then the appointment is repeated every December and has become one of the most followed events of the Christmas period in New York.
L’articolo The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was chosen from IlNewyorkese.
