2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Arrives: What To Know

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The days are getting shorter, the air is becoming cooler — and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is once again making its way to Midtown to get New Yorkers into the holiday spirit.

This year's tree will be installed on Saturday, Nov. 13, ahead of its lighting on Dec. 1. The 79-foot-tall Norway spruce was cut down on Thursday in Elkton, Maryland, where it stood for about 85 years in a family's yard.

Rockefeller Center's chief gardener, Erik Pauze, spotted the enormous tree while on a spontaneous drive through Maryland after taking a scouting trip through nurseries and farms in southern New Jersey, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The tradition began in 1931, when construction workers building Rockefeller Center first put up a Christmas tree. A formal tree lighting ceremony was first held two years later and the occasion has become more elaborate over time, first airing on national television in 1951.

Stay tuned: the 2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrives in 2 days! pic.twitter.com/HCrVYCp8BI
— Rockefeller Center (@rockcenternyc) November 11, 2021

Unlike last year, when pedestrian visits to the tree were limited due to the coronavirus, it appears likely that this year's tree will be easier for the public to view.

It is unclear whether the city will pedestrianize blocks around Rockefeller Center to free up space for people — a move it made in 2019, and which leaders have called on de Blasio to re-implement this year.

Also unclear: whether some sort of wild animal will be found nestled in this year's tree, like the tiny Saw-whet owl that was found cowering in last year's spruce after it was installed at Rockefeller Center. That adorable owl, nicknamed "Rocky," was released into the wild days later in upstate New York.