Downtown DC has a brand new holiday tradition. And it’s a sparkly one.
Hundreds of festive merry makers gathered at The Park at CityCenter (10th and I Streets NW) on November 29 to ring in the 2014 holiday season with the CityCenterDC’s first annual holiday tree lighting ceremony.
CityCenterDC is the $700 million, 10-acre mixed-use development located in the heart of downtown Washington DC on the site of the former convention center. The DowntownDC BID has been a proud supporter of the landmark project since it was first proposed.
The tree lighting event celebrated the sights and sounds of the holidays, including holiday music performed by the renowned Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC, and free seasonal hot beverages and cookies from celebrated dessert company RareSweets and upscale Thai restaurant Mango Tree by Richard Sandoval. Both RareSweets and Mango Tree will be opening CityCenterDC locations in the coming weeks.
Attendees were encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to DC’s Central Kitchen, a community kitchen that distributes more than 5,000 meals a day to the District’s hungry and homeless.
Mayor Vincent Grey and Councilman Jack Evans stopped by to admire the tree, and urged everyone to “shop and dine Downtown.” NBC4’s Eun Yang served as the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. “I just felt a wash of holiday season come over me,” Yang said after the GMCW’s opening number, “Mary Sat a Rockin’ Her Baby.”
CityCenterDC General Manager Timothy Lowery welcomed everyone and noted that Downtown DC was in the midst of a Renaissance. “Tonight, a new tradition for the District begins. This is a special moment for all of us. CityCenter is a great amenity to a rapidly changing city. We’re excited about our role and position here in the community.”
But the real star of the show was the 70-foot American fir tree designed by internationally recognized holiday decoration company Barrango. The monumental tree includes a dazzling 6-foot in diameter manzanita starburst topper with 16 arms as well as 4,525 ornaments adorned with 30,000 6”x6” hand-crafted silver-leaves. In addition, the 5,200 LED lamps on the starburst and 150,800 LED lamps around the tree will help light the night, all managed by 128 lighting controller channels. Two twenty-five foot reindeer, made from 37,000 manzanita twigs, are also on display in The Plaza at CityCenter for visitors to enjoy.
Rachel Donyanni and her girlfriends definitely approved of the tree. “It’s beautiful. It’s good that they kept it classy and simple with the silver and white.” Donyanni lives in the nearby Apartments at CityCenter and said she heard about the event via community email. “It’s very fancy and upscale,” said one of the friends, noting the nearby retail shops that are new to Downtown DC, including Longchamp and Salvatore Ferragamo. “It’s my first time over here. I had no idea that this was here. It reminds me of New York or something.”
CityCenterDC will be hosting a series of holiday concerts Fridays and Saturdays through Christmas. For a full list of events, go to www.citycenterdc.com/events.