The 2026 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be a Norway Spruce arriving from upstate New York next Wednesday.
The tree from West Edmeston, near Syracuse, will be cut down on Nov. 5 before making its 200-mile trip to Midtown on Nov. 7, where it’ll be adorned with 50,000 lights and topped with a Swarovski star.
A live broadcast of the tree being lit is scheduled for Dec. 2. The spruce will remain on display through Jan. 9. According to a press release announcing the tree’s arrival, the spruce will be turned into lumber to be used by Habitat for Humanity. That 50-year-old non-profit group builds home for people in need.
Angela Weiss/Getty Images
The Swarovski star is seen atop the Christmas Tree during the Rockefeller Center’s annual lighting ceremony in New York, on Nov. 29, 2023. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The first Christmas posted in Rockefeller Center was placed there in 1931. Organizers say that the annual tree lighting ceremony officially dates back to 1933.
A second tree was erected in 1936 to celebrate the newly opened skating rink in the complex’s plaza area.
The largest tree ever displayed at Rockefeller Center was a Norway Spruce brought down from Connecticut in 1999. It stood 100 feet tall. This year’s tree is 24 feet shorter.
A 550-pound Swarovski star, featuring 25,000 crystals, made its debut in 2004. A new topper made by architect Daniel Libeskind featuring 3 million crystals took its place in 2018.
Rockefeller Center’s head gardener Erik Pauze told The Center magazine in 2024 that finding the perfect tree for the holidays is a never-ending job.
“Typically, the timeline is that all year, almost every day, I’m thinking about this year’s Tree, next year’s Tree, and maybe the Tree after that,” he said.