The lighting ceremony of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, south of the White House, is the beginning of three weeks of celebration in music. Each night during December, musicial groups, primarily from the Washington, DC area, provide entertainment for visitors. It is a one of a kind opportunity to enjoy the sounds of the holiday season against the backdrop of the National Christmas Tree
and the smaller trees representing all fifty states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. Territories, model trains as well as the warmth of the yule log.
National Christmas Tree History For 84 years, the American tradition of
lighting a national Christmas Tree has continued, interrupted only briefly in its history during moments of great national travail.
In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit a “Community Christmas Tree” on behalf of “all Americans.” A Senator from Vermont, Coolidge’s homestate, arranged for a cut fir tree from Middlebury College to be erected in President’s Park (The Ellipse) for lighting. President Coolidge declined to speak at the ceremony, but he did push a button switch to light a 60-foot tree. Later that evening, the Marine Band performed in concert near the tree.
Sir Winton Churchill appeared on the South Porch with President Roosevelt for the lighting ceremony in 1941. Both men delivered Christmas messages to the gathered throng before sharing the official lighting duties. By the next year, Washington was under a war-imposed blackout. Lights were placed on the tree in 1942 but never lit, and the tree remained ‘dark’ from 1942 through 1944.
In 1954, the lighting ceremony was named “The Christmas Pageant of Peace,” and a “Pathway of Peace” was established featuring smaller, decorated trees – one for each state and territory.
In 1963, the tree was not lit until December 22, after a service at the Lincoln Memorial, concluding a 30-day period of national mourning that followed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The beautiful Colorado blue spruce that serves as the current National Christmas Tree was planted on the Ellipse in the fall of 1978. Brought to Washington, DC by the National Park Service from a York, Pennsylvania farm, this 40-foot tree has proven to be a hardy specimen. In 2003, the tree celebrated a quarter century of service as the National Christmas Tree.
2007 Schedule
The annual National Christmas Tree Program takes place each year from early December through January 1, on the Ellipse south of the White House grounds.
Lighting of the National Christmas Tree Ceremony
- Thursday, December 6 at 5 p.m.
National Christmas Tree Program Activities
- Saturday, December 8, 2007 to Tuesday, January 1, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
National Christmas Tree Music Program
-Saturday, December 8 to Sunday, December 23 each evening, weather permitting
Opening Night Tree Lighting Ceremony
The 2007 Opening Night Tree Lighting Ceremony will begin on Thursday, December 6, at 5 p.m.
The tree lighting ceremony begins each year’s National Christmas Tree Program. Nationally known entertainers and a military band add to the celebratory evening in which the President brings a message of peace to the nation and the world. The culmination of the evening is the illumination of the National Christmas Tree.
National Christmas Tree Program Activities
The Opening Night Tree Lighting Ceremony is just the beginning of the three-week program during which the National Christmas Tree and smaller trees representing the states, territories and the District of Columbia are visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors. The smaller trees are decorated with hand-made ornaments by groups from each geographic area. In addition to the trees, visitors enjoy nightly musical performances by individuals and groups. They also take delight in a model train display around the foot of the National Christmas Tree, courtesy of the Shenandoah and Potomac Valley Garden Railway Club and the National Capital Trackers.
National Christmas Tree Music Program
The nightly outdoor musical and dance performances are presented on a small stage near the National Christmas Tree during the month of December. The performances are free to the public.
