Best Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremonies in New York City To Visit in 2021

Best Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremonies in New York City

Holiday tree lighting ceremonies in New York are the best way to kick off the holidays. There’s no better way to get into the festive spirit than coming together with your community, big or small, and singing carols, drinking hot cocoa and taking in the beauty of dazzling decorations or sparkling Christmas trees. The holidays are truly the most magical time of the year in New York City, and that magic is always kicked off by flipping the switch on the festive decorations and lights.

Here are some holiday lighting ceremonies for your family to attend this upcoming holiday season. Whether you’re looking for iconic productions or the small community gatherings, we have a perfect list for you!

Are you looking for a fun activity to try this winter? Check out Wollman Rink NYC Officially Reopens!

88th Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting – Midtown, Manhattan
December 1
30 Rockefeller Plaza
212-588-8601

Be one of the thousands who crowd the sidewalks to watch the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree be lit for the very first time this holiday season. It can also be viewed in the comfort of your own home on NBC’s national broadcast of the event, in the past, there have been live performances by top singers and the Radio City Rockettes! The annual tree lighting ceremony is free and open to the public and operates on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Don’t miss out on a New York City bucket list experience, plan your trip into Midtown to see America’s most famous Christmas tree come to life for the 88th time. The ceremony will take place from 8 pm to 10 pm and the tree will remain lit and on display between West 48th and 51st Street and Fifth and Sixth Avenues through the holiday season.

The Washington Square Association Annual Tree Lighting – Greenwich Village, Manhattan
December 8
Washington Square North
212-396-5873

Gather under the arch in Washington Square Park for the annual tree lighting ceremony. You and your family can join in on the jolly spirit with the Rob Susman Brass Quartet as they sing holiday songs. The sparkling lights on the gorgeous tree will be flipped on to celebrate the beginning of festive winter evenings. Some even say that Santa Claus himself has promised to make an appearance! The ceremony will take place from 6 pm to 7 pm both in person and virtually. The Washington Square Association will also provide songbooks when visitors come in person so everyone can sing along.

Annual Central Park Holiday Lighting – East Harlem
December 2
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center at 110th Street
212-310-6675

Celebrate the holiday season in Central Park! The entire family can kick off their holiday festivities, have the chance to meet Santa and friends, sing carols on the Plaza, and warm up with the perfect combination of hot chocolate and cookies. The festive evening will come to a scenic end with the lighting of a flotilla of holiday trees on the Harlem Meer. The event is set to take place, rain, snow or shine,starting at 5:30 pm. The event is free and registration is not required.

American Museum of Natural History’s Origami Holiday Tree – Upper West Side
November 24 through January 2, 2022
200 Central Park West
212-769-5100

Don’t miss out on one of New York’s most beloved holiday displays! This winter, visit the American Museum of Natural History to see the Origami Holiday Tree, an annual tradition for the past 40 years. The theme for this year’s 13-foot tree is Gems of the Museum, with 1,000 origami pieces inspired by the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals Thanks to a partnership with OrigamiUSA, the tree is made up of these beautiful paper models that are created by local, national, and international origami artists.

Sinterklaas – St. Nicholas Day & Tree Lighting – East Flatbush
December 4
Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, 5816 Clarendon Road
718-629-5400

Bring your entire family to meet Sinterklaas and enjoy an exciting day of holiday festivities! The day will kick off at 2:00 pm with a traditional concert by colonial balladeer Linda Russel. After St. Nicholas arrives on horseback, visitors can follow Dutch traditions and feed his horse carrots and hay. Afterward, families are invited to sip on some delicious hot cider, decorate a Dutch clog, and dress the tree for the tree lighting to close the day as the sun sets. This event is free but tickets must be reserved online ahead of time.

7th Annual Fort Greene Tree Lighting – Clinton Hill
December 5
100 Washington Park
718-230-1689

Gather with neighbors at the northwest corner of Fort Greene Park, near the Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street entrance for an annual event that is full of holiday cheer! Take selfies with Santa, bring unwrapped toys for the toy drive collection, vibe to fun holiday music, and enjoy the lighting of the tree as you sip free hot cocoa and cider and enjoy cookies provided by local Myrtle Avenue restaurants. This free event is great for the whole family and will take place from 4 pm to 5 pm.

Winter Wonder at the Garden – Flushing
December 4
Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street
718-866-3800

Get into the holiday spirit at the Queens Botanical Garden with fun for the entire family! Winter Wonder in the Garden will be welcoming guests with live musical performances, photos with Santa, a fantastic tree lighting, holiday crafts, a tree tour, and blowout sales at the QBG Shop. This exciting holiday event has everything you need to kick off the holiday season! The free event will take place from 12 pm to 5 pm and is great for all ages. Specific activities may require a separate fee. If you are planning to attend, you are encouraged to register online.

9th Annual Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting Celebration – Astoria
December 5
Astoria Park Lawn, 19th Street and 23rd Ave.
718-728-7820

Come one, come all to Astoria Park for the 9th Annual Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting Celebration! Everyone is invited to this highly-anticipated and sought after free community event that rings in the holiday season. Gather on the park lawn for photos with Santa, face painting, balloon art, crafts and more, all followed by a spectacular tree lighting ceremony! The Astoria community tradition will take place from 3 pm to 4:30 pm.

Bronx Little Italy Christmas Tree Lighting – Little Italy
November 27
Ciccarone Park, E 188th Street & Arthur Ave.
718-294-8259

Ring in the holidays and celebrate small businesses with special guest Chazz Palminteri of A Bronx Tale! Enjoy festive holiday music as you indulge in Italian cookies and hot chocolate. Santa Clause is even set to travel from the North Pole to make an appearance in Ciccarone Park! Kids can even line up for a toy giveaway before they settle in for the bright and beautiful tree lighting ceremony. The toy giveaway is first-come, first-serve, and the free event is set to take place from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights – Crotona
November 19 – January 9th
2300 Southern Blvd.
718-220-5100

Discover the holiday season at the Bronx Zoo! Spectacular animal lanterns, animal sculptures, and colorful designs will light the way throughout the park. Enjoy the magic of the zoo, coupled with the wonderful display of holiday lights. Enjoy an unforgettable experience that’s brighter than ever thanks to LED technology. Admission tickets are $39.95 for adults (ages 13 and over) and $24.95 for children ages 2 to 12. Tickets can be purchased online. The Holiday Lights are not open December 24 and 25.

HudsonWay Immersion School

A pioneer in language immersion since 2005. After school language classes provide a fun and effective way for preschool and elementary children to learn Mandarin or Spanish language skills through project based learning and fun, engaging themes.

The Language Workshop For Children

After offering both group and private lessons for many years and analyzing the results over&nbsp;time, The&nbsp;Language Workshop for&nbsp;Children, founded&nbsp;in1973, has decided&nbsp;to emphasize private remote lessons at shorter intervals.&nbsp;Our skilled educators&nbsp;will&nbsp;focus their attention exclusively on the&nbsp;unique needs, learning style, and interests of your child.&nbsp;This allows a&nbsp;bond&nbsp;to develop&nbsp;between teacher and student, which&nbsp;has been&nbsp;shown to&nbsp;drastically improve retention.&nbsp; OUR METHOD&nbsp; Developed by the pioneers of language education for children, our programs bring decades of&nbsp;experience to your living room with individualized, active language classes. Each lesson is based on proven methods and materials perfected to capture your&nbsp;child&rsquo;s attention during the ages when he/she absorbs information the fastest. &nbsp;&nbsp; While other online language classes rely on videos for passive learning, we deliver interactive, and engaging lessons with native-fluent teachers. In addition, all our teachers are certified in the Thibaut&nbsp;Technique which has been featured&nbsp;in the New York&nbsp;Times, the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal, and many other well-respected&nbsp;publications.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our short one-on-one lessons give kids the chance to focus, hear pronunciation clearly, and practice speaking in their target language.  THE PROCESS&nbsp; First, students have a short meeting with our Director&nbsp;Francois&nbsp;Thibaut, in&nbsp;English, with&nbsp;their parent(s)&nbsp;present.&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut&nbsp;will determine&nbsp;the best course of study, including&nbsp;class length and&nbsp;frequency, the&nbsp;right&nbsp;teacher, lesson&nbsp;format and materials (or action games for younger students.) Then the learning&nbsp;begins!&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut will continually check in on your child&rsquo;s learning to assure they are getting the most&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;classes.&nbsp; OTHER OFFERINGS&nbsp; We can also help your child prepare for: the French subject tests for SAT, AP &amp; CLEP, the European DELF/DALF, the Canadian TEF and other standardized testing, college entry exams, studying or traveling abroad,&nbsp;cultural changes when moving abroad,&nbsp;and much more!&nbsp; &nbsp;

Speakitaly NYC

SPEAKITALY NYC offers stimulating and entertaining lessons for children 0 to 16 years through a wide combination of activities based on the communicative approach anchored in the Common European Framework of Reference: active learning (group work, role plays, etc.) and practice exercises aimed to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Kids will start speaking and using Italian in a very natural way.&nbsp; Small classes capped at 6 students to make sure each one gets the needed attention and facilitate learners' progress.&nbsp; Our method is driven by a didactic method that is the result of constant updates, professional certifications and more than 10 years of experience in working with non-native speakers from different native languages and levels of knowledge. Our aim is to develop a range of Italian language skills while improving accuracy that will enable the students and participants to interact without stress or feeling rushed. We want to help those in the community really embrace not only the true culture in Italy but the Italian culture within New York City&hellip; Who doesn&rsquo;t love what Italy represents in the kitchen, in history &amp; in the arts? Speakitaly wants to support multilingual families who want to learn a new language or pass along their ancestor&rsquo;s heritage and culture. Raffaella, the founder said: "We see language awareness and intercultural sensitivity as the milestones for an inclusive society. Italian, like all other languages, is an enrichment and a growth in every way. Vi aspettiamo!"

Best Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremonies in New York City To Visit in 2021