As Halloween has come and gone, preparations for the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree have begun. This year’s Norway spruce is 74 feet tall and will be delivered from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The 70-year-old iconic tree weighs about 11 tons and stands 43 feet in diameter.
The towering spruce will be cut on November 7 and is scheduled to arrive on November 9, as announced by the Rockefeller Center. The tree will be prepared in time for the annual Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 4 and the announcement on the broadcast, “Christmas at Rockefeller Center.” The Christmas tree is anticipated to be adorned with approximately 50,000 multi-colored, energy-efficient LED lights that will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight except for Christmas Eve, when it will be lit for 24 hours. Topping the tree will be a 900-pound star crafted with 3 million Swarovski crystals, as reported by CBS News.
This year’s tree is historically significant, for it is the first time since 1959 that a tree has been chosen from Massachusetts. The family donating the spruce, the Alberts, will receive a replacement or other greenery in exchange for the tree. In the past, most of the Rockefeller trees have been mainly chosen from New York and Pennsylvania. Hence, the news that this year’s tree was chosen from Massachusetts is a significant honor for the Alberts. Earl Albert is the former owner of Loeb’s Foodtown in Lenox and is the current owner of the West Stockbridge Public Market. NBC plans to feature live segments from the Alberts’ property during the tree-cutting ceremony, Berkshire Eagle mentions. However, the Albert family is not available for interviews until the cutting ceremony.
Erik Pauze, the head gardener of the Rockefeller Center, selected the Rockefeller tree in 2020. As Pauze was getting gas after searching for a tree overnight, spotted the tree and asked the owner if he could use it for the Rockefeller Center. Pauze explained the steps to perfecting the shape and color of the tree after he first saw it to Today.com. “In the spring of this year, I decided to call Earl and ask if I could start feeding it and watering it,” he said. “I came up quite often to feed the tree, and every time I got out of the car, I smiled and knew it was the right one for Rockefeller Center.”
The Rockefeller Center Tree continues to be one of the most beloved New York City holiday traditions. Since the tree will be available until mid-January, many visitors and tourists are making holiday plans to pass by the Rockefeller tree during their visit. An estimated 500,000 people every day will visit the Rockefeller Center to admire the Christmas tree, Habitat for Humanity reported.
After the Christmas tree is appreciated by many, it will be taken down and be milled into lumber to support Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps build affordable homes for low and moderate-income families. With the tree’s growing publicity, many New Yorkers are looking forward to the arrival of the 2024 Rockefeller Christmas Tree later this month.
