Standing tall at 5th Ave and 49th Street in New York City, the Rockefeller Christmas tree has been the premier symbol of holidays and all the goodness that is associated with Christmas. The tradition of illuminating the Rockefeller Christmas Tree began in 1931, while the Rockefeller Center was still under construction. Every year since then, the Christmas tree is lit with multicolored lights, kindling the spirit of Christmas throughout the city. This year the tree will be lit on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 and will continue to dazzle the Rockefeller Center until early January 2010. With 30,000 varicolored lights strung on more than five miles of electric wire, topped with a Swarovski crystal star, this is a spectacle not to be missed during your New York City Tour! The annual tree lighting ceremony is televised and features dazzling musical performances from a variety of popular artists.

The Christmas tree that adorns Rockefeller Center is a Norway Spruce, a native to Northern Europe, with the desired height and width requirements – minimum of 65 feet and 35 feet respectively. The tree is recycled every year, with people from all around the United States offering their very own Christmas trees grown in their front or backyards to the Rockefeller Center management, hoping that theirs will be the ‘chosen’ one to spread the joy to the millions who visit New York City during Christmas. The sparkling ambience of the Rockefeller Christmas tree is definitely going to be a highlight of all New York Tours this December.