The Christmas season again gets an unofficial kickoff with the star-studded tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Kelly Clarkson, the "American Idol" champ whose talk show is taped at 30 Rock, will return to host the ceremony and its television special, “Christmas in Rockefeller Center.”
Clarkson first performed at the ceremony more than 20 years ago and marked the milestone with hosting duties last year. “I was all of a sudden in a Charlie Brown movie, and it was magical,” she said on her show this month, referring to her hosting duties last year.
"The Kelly Clarkson Show" moved to New York City last year after originally taping at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. Clarkson said she looks forward to hosting the tree lighting again.
“I love the holidays here in New York,” Clarkson said on her show. “Living here during Christmas is like you’re in a movie. There’s nothing like it in the world, especially the tree lighting ceremony.”
How do I watch the ceremony?
The ceremony begins at Rockefeller Center at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday; it will be broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock as part of the two-hour “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special.
A lineup of music stars will perform, and the event will wrap up with the tree being lit with tens of thousands of Christmas lights.
NBC-owned stations, along with some affiliates, will air an additional live hour from Rockefeller Center before the event, NBC said in a statement. Mario Lopez of “Access Hollywood” and NBC New York anchors Natalie Pasquarella and David Ushery will host that show, it said.
Spanish-language viewers can, for the first time, watch a Telemundo simulcast, “Navidades en Rockefeller Center,” starting live at 9 p.m. ET, NBC said. NBC, Peacock and Telemundo are owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
How do I attend in person?
The area around Rockefeller Center is public, but sightseers can buy tickets to be photographed with the tree in the background. VIP tickets are also available to view the tree up close from an area normally closed to the public.
But those attending in person will want to bundle up. Temperatures are forecast to be 7 to 10 degrees F below normal, with a chance of showers and snow later next week, according to the National Weather Service.
What is on the tree?
More than 50,000 multicolor LED lights will adorn the tree, NBC said in a statement. A Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, first used in 2018, is expected to top the tree, the network said.
Who will be at the ceremony?
The ceremony and the show will be a holiday music spectacular, with performances by the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, the country duo Dan + Shay, Broadway star Megan Hilty, Thalia, known as the Queen of Latin Pop, and more, NBC said in a statement.
The high-kicking Radio City Rockettes, star of the annual “Christmas Spectacular” at adjacent Radio City Music Hall, will also perform, the network said.
NBC News’ “TODAY” show anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin will also appear, it said.
What is the origin of the tree?
This year’s tree is the first to hail from Massachusetts since 1959. It’s a 74-foot-tall, 43-foot-wide Norway spruce from West Stockbridge, and it arrived at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 9, according to the website for Rockefeller Center.
This year’s tree weights about 11 tons, it said.
After mid-January, the tree will be donated to the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity so its wood can be used to build homes for those in need, NBC said in its statement.
The tree was planted by newlyweds Earl Albert and his late wife, Leslie, in 1967, and he recently honored her memory by donating it to serve as the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Albert said in an interview in early November.
His family has since said in a statement that Albert has suffered a stroke but was still “looking forward to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting, and working hard to be able to attend in person.”
What is the history of the tree lighting?
The ceremony continues a long tradition dating back to the foundations of Rockefeller Center.
The first tree was erected at the construction site of the New York City landmark in 1931 by workers who pooled their money for the display, according to the tree’s history page. Two years later, the lighting ceremony was born. In 1951, it was televised.
How do I see the tree after the ceremony?
After Wednesday night’s event, the tree will be lit from 5 a.m. to midnight through mid-January. It will be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Eve but there will be an early cutoff, 9 p.m., for New Year’s Eve, when revelers will fill nearby Times Square, Rockefeller Center said on its website.
