Lighting the Way for Peace

Release Date: Thursday, December 2nd 2010

The most wonderful time of the year has officially begun!  The annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Pageant of Peace begins each year’s National Christmas Tree Music Program which features free musical entertainment nightly through December and includes volunteer choirs, bands, and dancers. Weeknight performances run between 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm and weekend shows between 1:00 pm and 8:30 pm. 

Thousands gathered on the Ellipse of the White House to usher in the holiday season with Common, the hip-hop artist and actor, who hosted the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. The star-studded line up included blues legend B.B. King, ten-year-old “America’s Got Talent” soprano prodigy Jackie Evancho, the Grammy-award winning band Maroon 5, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, and pianist Sara Bareilles, just to name a few.

The first tree lighting ceremony was held 87 years ago under President Calvin Coolidge. The ceremonies begin each year’s National Christmas Tree Music Program and include entertainers, a military band, and a presidential message of peace to the nation and the world. More than 10,000 free tickets to this year’s ceremony were distributed through a lottery system for the public last month.

The National Park Service (NPS) and the National Park Foundation sponsor this annual event. For more information, visit www.thenationaltree.org.