It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year when the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree takes center stage at its annual star-studded lighting ceremony on Wednesday.

Kelly Clarkson, whose talk show is taped at the Midtown landmark, will host the lighting ceremony starting at 8 p.m. ET.

The more than 50,000 LED lights adorning the 74-foot-tall spruce tree, topped with a Swarovski star, likely won’t come on until just before 10 p.m

The event will be broadcast on NBC as part of a live two-hour special, “Christmas in Rockefeller,” which can also be streamed on Peacock.

It’s a return to celebratory form for the 42-year-old Grammy winner, who made her first appearance at the ceremony in the early hours of the morning and hosted the 2023 Lights show, months after relocating to the East Coast.

Performances include a trip down memory lane with the Backstreet Boys as well as Broadway veteran Megan Hilty, Jennifer Hudson, Dan + Shay, Thalia, Little Big Town and the Radio City Rockettes.

This year’s 43-foot-wide and approximately 11-ton tree is Rockefeller Center’s first tree from Massachusetts since 1959 and was planted in 1967 by then-newlyweds Earl and Leslie Albert.

The tree arrived at Center Plaza on Nov. 9 from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, about 130 miles west of Boston.

Once the tree is cut down in mid-January, it will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, according to NBC.

The weather forecast for Manhattan calls for a cloudy evening in the low 40s, but wind chills will make it feel more like the low to mid 30s, with rain possible around 11 p.m

There will likely be traffic jams in the evening. The New York City Department of Transportation declared Wednesday one of the last remaining gridlock warning days of the year and advised against driving in Manhattan if possible.

Due to the tree lighting, road closures on E 49th St and E 50th St. will be effective at 11 a.m. and on E 48th and E 51st from 1 p.m

Originally published: December 4, 2024 at 10:42 am EST