The Grove Christmas Tree is an approximately 100-foot

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

tree that is lit every year at

The Grove at Farmer's Market The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, located on parts of the historic Farmers Market. History The complex fills space previously occupied by an orchard and nursery, which were the last remains of a dairy farm owned ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 2002, it was the tallest

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

area and attracted about 90,000 visitors a day during the holiday season.

History

The tradition of lighting The Grove Christmas Tree takes place in mid-November after it was begun in 2002 by real estate developer and businessman

Rick J. Caruso Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American businessman. A billionaire, he is the founder and former chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He is the chair of the board of trustees at the University ...

. He aimed to make the tree the centerpiece of his retail and entertainment complex, The Grove in Los Angeles, during the

season. In time, the popularity of the annual lighting ceremony eventually rivaled that of the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting mid-town

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The Grove Christmas Tree measures 100 to 110 feet while the Rockefeller Center tree is only about 75 to 90 feet. The first white fir tree used for the event was harvested from the

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascad ...

region in Northern California in 2010. The following year, a 100-foot white fir was decorated with more than 10,000 lights and 15,000 ornaments, setting the precedent for successive Christmas trees for The Grove at Farmers Market.

Tree Lighting

Among the performers who have graced the event are operatic acts

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

and

Jackie Evancho Jacqueline Marie Evancho ( ; born April 9, 2000) is an American classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age. Since 2009, she has issued a platinum-selling EP and nine albums, including three ''Billboard'' 200 top 10 ...

, pop singers

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Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Virman Coquia), ...

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", " Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration wi ...

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB drama series '' One Tree ...

, and

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...

as well as

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

alumni Lauren Alaina,

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country music singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' on May 25, 2011. His debut studio album, ''Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and w ...

, and Phillip Phillips. Caruso’s Top Hats Dancers Rachel Montez Collins and Kathryn Burns have also showcased their famous act. Actor and celebrity insider

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on '' Saved by the Bell'', '' Saved by the Bell ...

hosts the annual celebration. For the 10th anniversary of the Christmas tree lighting, The Grove partnered with the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headquart ...

for its “Season of Wishes” campaign. Christmas lights and baubles covered the white fir tree as well as everything else at The Grove. The evening showcased artificial snowfall, bubbles, and a

fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

finale.

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent outl ...

, the Los Angeles area affiliate (and West Coast flagship station) of CBS, televises The Grove Christmas Tree lighting live every year. It is syndicated to hundreds of television stations across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, including most of the CBS network's owned-and-operated stations and other affiliates as well.

References

External links

The Grove at Farmer's Market
{{coord, 34.072, -118.358, type:event_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Individual Christmas trees Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles Tourist attractions in Los Angeles Fairfax, Los Angeles Christmas in California Individual trees in California

History

Tree Lighting

See also

References

External links