Seasonal & Holidays

Here's What Boston Gets Paid for Its Annual Christmas Tree

The holiday behemoth is almost here! Here's how you can follow the 2016 Boston Tree's journey south from Nova Scotia.

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BOSTON, MA — This year's Boston Tree is on its way, a journey you can track mile-by-mile at the link below, and the latest adventure in a decades-long tradition.

Halifax first sent a Christmas tree to Boston in 1918 as thanks to the city for sending aid after the Halifax Explosion, which killed close to 2,000 and injured thousands more in December of 1917.

The gift was revived in the 1970s and continues to this day.

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It's part "thank you," part marketing effort by Nova Scotia, as CBC News reported this week.

The tree's travel expenses, marketing and more came to a cool $242,000 last year, according to a breakdown this week; $41,000 went to the City of Boston, while the ABC station that broadcast the tree-lighting in 2015 took in $75,000.

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Nova Scotia's generously gifted behemoths serve as the official Boston Tree, lit during a special ceremony.

The Canadian province is promoting the 2016 Boston Tree's 700-mile immigration online in a series of sweet and sometimes funny posts:

You and your family can follow its progress here, as well as on Facebook.

Photo by Jori Samonen, Flickr/Creative Commons

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