Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting 2023: When, where, time, TV, channel, livestream, performances

The 2023 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree that is standing tall in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza this holiday season is an 80-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce from Vestal, N.Y.

Crews have been working round the clock to wrap the 80-to-85-year-old tree in 50,000 lights and top it with a 900-pound star featuring 70 spikes with 3 million Swarovski crystals to prepare for the 91st annual tree-lighting ceremony, which takes place Wednesday, Nov. 29.

Here is what you need to know about the tree-lighting ceremony, how to watch, who will host, the performances, the tree-lighting schedule through the holiday season, and where the tree will go after the holidays are over.

The Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony is on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023 from 8-10 p.m. EST.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC as part of the “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” live special.

If you don’t have cable and want to stream the entire TV broadcast, you can watch on streaming platforms such as Fubo TV or Sling TV , which have NBC.

Both offer a free trial, and each has a live TV and a DVR function , so viewers can watch the parade in real-time or on-demand.

The tree-lighting event is open to the public, so if you plan on viewing the spectacle in person make sure to arrive with enough time before crowds begin to form.

The tree is displayed between West 49th and 50th streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues.

Kelly Clarkson will host and perform at the tree-lighting special. NBC “Today” anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin will also appear on the broadcast.

“Christmas in Rockefeller Center” has been broadcast on live television since 1951.

Several big names will be performing at the tree-lighting ceremony in New York City, including:

Chloe Bailey

Adam Blackstone

David Foster

Liz Gillies

Darlene Love

Seth MacFarlane

Barry Manilow

Katharine McPhee

Keke Palmer

Carly Pearce

Manuel Turizo

The Radio City Rockettes, who will perform an excerpt from their “Christmas Spectacular.”

The tree will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight after the ceremony.

On Christmas Day, the tree stays lit for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve it is lit from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

When the tree comes down at a to-be-determined time in January, it will be transported to a mill in New Jersey where it will be chopped into wood and then shipped to a landscaping company to be dried in a kiln where the wood pieces are smoothed over.

The finished beams are then donated to Habitat for Humanity. This has been a tradition since 2007.