The Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York City is a highly anticipated event during the holiday season. This year, Kelly Clarkson, host of an NBC talk show taped at Rockefeller Center, will return to host the ceremony and its television special, “Christmas in Rockefeller Center.” The event will feature performances by music stars such as the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, and the Radio City Rockettes. This year’s tree is a 74-foot Norway spruce from Massachusetts, adorned with more than 50,000 LED lights and topped by a Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.
The ceremony will take place at Rockefeller Center at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, and will be televised live on NBC as part of a two-hour special. Viewers can also stream the event on Peacock. VIP tickets are available for those who want to view the tree up close from a special area. The tree will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight through mid-January, with a special 24-hour lighting on Christmas Eve. The tradition of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting dates back to 1931 when workers pooled their money for the first tree display, which was followed by the first lighting ceremony in 1933.
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