Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree Lights Up December 2
The 76-foot spruce lights December 2, but The Rink shuts that night. Skating resumes December 3, and a Holiday Top of the Rock ticket adds up-close tree access.
🎄 Three Ways to See It
This year's tree grew in West Edmeston, New York, stands 76 feet tall, and reaches the plaza on November 7. More than 50,000 LEDs and a Swarovski star switch on December 2, seven to ten, during a ceremony airing live on NBC. It stays through mid January 2027 before Habitat for Humanity takes it for lumber.
Lighting night is not a skating night. The Rink and its Holiday Chalets close December 1 and 2 for the ceremony, so nobody skates under the tree as it switches on. Sessions return December 3, nine in the morning to midnight, from 22 dollars plus skate rental, and everyone entering the rink needs a ticket, non-skaters included.
Holiday Top of the Rock is the paid way closer to the tree, from 42 dollars, though its up-close Tree Viewing Experience runs December 3 to January 2 on direct-admission holiday tickets, so it skips lighting night as well. Plaza viewing is free, and Rockefeller Center has not posted lighting-night entry, capacity, or photo rules; its tree page says to check back for visiting hours and details. Skaters enter through the new Skate House on 49th Street between Fifth and Sixth, next to Kate Spade, with an accessible entrance on the rink level through The Rink Shop.
