National Tree Lighting Ceremony

On Thursday, December 1, my friends and I were lucky enough to attend the National Tree Lighting Ceremony held just south of the White House near the Washington Monument. In order to get these tickets, which were for standing room only, we all entered a lottery contest, and thankfully two of us got them, each receiving 5 tickets. And being the good friends they are, they brought the rest of us who did not win tickets along.

The ceremony started at about 5pm, and included musical Christmas performances from OneRepublic, Rodney Atkins, will.i.am, Jersey Boys, Marsha Ambrosius, Big Time Rush, Ellie Goulding, and the ever-popular Kermit the Frog. The ceremony was hosted by Carson Daly and also featured the entire Obama family and Santa Clause.

This year, for the first time in over 30 years there was a brand new tree, since the previous one was taken down by a storm this past February. As a result, the tree was a great deal smaller than the last one, but it will grow (it’s just a baby Christmas tree right now). From where we were standing, this also made it a little difficult to see it without standing on our tippy toes.

Overall, it was a really fun experience and hopefully I can attend again in the future. Everyone attending was in the Christmas spirit, singing along with all of the songs and it was a nice way to kick off the holiday season. And of course I have a few pictures!

Taylor and I with our tickets

The entire group

Stage to the left.

The beautiful baby tree from a distance since with all the people we could not get any closer

Feel free to email me with any questions! cbgraf@gwmail.gwu.edu
-Christie