Chicago Chooses Its 100th Official Christmas Tree

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 4, 2013 4:45PM

The city has chosen a Colorado blue spruce to be this year’s official Christmas tree. The Moore family of South Holland will donate the 57-foot tree for display in Daley Plaza during the holidays. The tree, chosen from over 90 submissions, will be cut down Thursday and delivered to Daley Plaza Friday.

The tree also marks the 100th anniversary of Chicago’s first Christmas tree and will be lighted in an official ceremony 6 p.m. Nov. 26 at Daley Plaza. Singer Darlene Love will headline an afternoon of free performances at 5 p.m. and the lighting ceremony will be followed by a fireworks display. Other performances include dance students from the Joffrey Academy of Dance performing an excerpt from the holiday classic The Nutcracker and songs from Broadway in Chicago’s Elf the Musical and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical.

The first municipal Christmas tree was lighted Dec. 24, 1913 in Grant Park. The trees have been donated by area families since 2009 when the Daley administration decided to halt constructing a giant tree display from smaller trees. This year’s tree will be on display until Jan. 9, 2014.