Ever since 1933, New York City has held the annual Christmas Tree lighting celebration in Rockefeller Center.  It all started in 1931 when a few workmen decided to set up a tree on a work site in Rockefeller Center.  Two years later, New York held the first-ever formal Tree Lighting Ceremony.  The fifty foot tree was decorated with seven hundred lights and the ceremony was broadcast over NBC Radio.  Three years after the first lighting, in 1936, the ceremony consisted of two trees, both seventy feet tall, and an ice skating pageant.  Three trees were set up in 1942, one in each color of our flag, to show support for the World War II troops who could not be home for Christmas.  The first time that the ceremony was on national television was in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show.  The largest tree ever to have been lit in Rockefeller Center was 100 years old and 100 feet tall.  It was lit in 1999 and weighed 10 tons. In 2007, the tree was lit with 30,000 LED lights, conserving energy and becoming an eco-friendly tree.

In 2004, the famous Swarovski crystal star topped the tree.  The star was designed by Michael Hammers, a German artist, and it weighs a total of 550 pounds with a diameter of nine and a half feet.  The star contains 25,000 crystals and is the largest star to be placed on the tree.
This year the ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 30, 2011.  Before the tree was lit, performers took the stage in front of the tree to sing many holiday favorites:

• Justin Bieber and Usher – “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
• Michael Buble – “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Silver Bells” (featuring Naturally 7)
• Carole King – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
• Neil Diamond – “Joy to the World”
• Tony Bennet – “White Christmas”
• Big Time Rush – “Beautiful Christmas”
• Javier Colon – “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
• Katherine McPhee – “Beautiful”

The world famous Radio City Rockettes performed a well-choreographed excerpt from their holiday show.  After the Rockettes performed, Justin Bieber released the music video for his duet with Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas is You”.

After the premiere of the music video, Mayor Bloomberg lit the tree as a choir sang “Joy to the World”.  The whole Tree Lighting Ceremony was beautiful, energetic, and spirited. It would be a great holiday celebration to attend if you were looking for some holiday cheer.