East or West, which Christmas lights suit you best?

The big duck in Flanders – or the big tree in New York City?

Both are scheduled for this Wednesday as the holiday season really begins with the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center and the lighting of The Big Duck to the east.

Both begin festivities starting at 7 p.m., although weather could put a damper on things. The National Weather Service is predicting a 70% chance of rain and temperatures in the mid-30s.

The lighting of The Big Duck — the 20-foot-tall, 30-foot-long, 18-foot-wide ferro-cement structure built in 1931 by Long Island duck farmer Martin Maurer — will be a grassroots event attended by hundreds of people, according to Ed Romaine, executive director of the Suffolk County. Traditionally, the Flemish Fire Department transports Santa Claus to the event on Route 24 on a fire truck.

“The only thing that can make the famous Great Duck even better is being lit up for the holidays,” Romaine said in a statement Monday. “This is such a great event and I encourage everyone to come along and experience this beautiful sight.”

Compared to the Flanders festivities, the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center will be full of pomp and pageantry, tens of thousands will be in attendance at 30 Rock in Manhattan and will be broadcast live on NBC, Peacock and, for the first time on a Spanish-language broadcast, Telemundo.

The 2024 Tree at Rockefeller Center is a 74-foot-tall spruce tree. It is believed to be about 70 years old and was donated by a family from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The lighting will be featured as part of the live “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” broadcast on NBC and Peacock from 8 to 10 p.m., hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Today anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin. The event will feature Clarkson, The Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson and many others.

The Rockefeller Center tree was selected after a lengthy scouting mission by Farmingdale State College graduate Erik Pauze.

“There was a huge crowd today,” Pauze, Rockefeller Center’s head gardener, said Nov. 9 as the tree was installed on the Rockefeller Center plaza. “They were one of the largest gatherings of people I’ve ever seen.” Growing trees.”

It is adorned by a roughly 5-mile-long chain of 50,000 LEDs and crowned by a 900-pound Swarovski star, its 70 points covered in three million crystals.

The first holiday Christmas tree was installed at Rockefeller Center in 1931, the same year Maurer built The Big Duck. According to the NBC website, this tree was a modest, 20-foot-tall balsam fir decorated with handmade garlands and purchased by workers at Rockefeller Center who pooled their money to get into the Christmas spirit.

This year’s tree will be lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight, but will be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Eve – and from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve

The tree will be on display until mid-January when it will be cut, milled and made into lumber that will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.

As for the big duck? It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the site at 1012 Route 24 is part of the Suffolk County Parks Department system.

The Big Duck is normally closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but for the lighting ceremony it is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m

The park is open from dawn to dusk, but The Big Duck store is open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m

Both events – the Big Tree and the Big Duck – are free and open to the public, but tickets are required for some viewing areas at Rockefeller Center.

For more information about the Rockefeller Center tree, visit www.rockefellercenter.com/holidays/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/

With AP

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been nationally honored by the Associated Press and the Society of the Silurians for his investigative, entrepreneurial and breaking news reporting and column writing, and is the author of “Swee’pea,” a book about the former New York City playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti appears in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 film “Big Shot.”