Bryant Park Celebrates Tree Lighting with Olympic Skaters, Carolers and Hot Chocolate

Carolers, singers, ice skaters and attendees celebrated the lighting of Bryant Park’s tree on Dec. 2 with songs, dances and more, ringing in the holiday season.

Despite the cold and rainy weather, the ceremony in Midtown drew plenty of New Yorkers and tourists eager to celebrate the holidays. The free event began at 5:30 p.m. and celebrated the 45-foot-tall, more than 8,000-pound tree’s lighting with fireworks and holiday tunes. More than 1,200 ornaments decorated the tree and around 12,000 lights lit it up.

Throughout the park, shoppers frequented the park’s winter village, which offers more than 190 merchants offering everything from hot chocolate to jewelry. The market is open-air and inspired by European markets. It opened in late October and is open daily until early January. The winter park’s centerpiece is a 17,000 square foot ice rink, which offers admission-free ice skating, rental skates and events on ice. It’s open daily until March, weather permitting.

A rink side bar and food hall, dubbed “The Lodge,” private igloos and a glass box venue called “Overlook Lounge,” which offers shared plates, wine and live music, are also part of the park.

Antara Afrin, a native New Yorker, visited the holiday market with a friend and said she enjoys its plethora of food options. She said she usually goes for the egg tarts when she shops at the market. The market has been busier in recent years, Afrin said, but she lucked out because it was not too crowded when she came on the same night as the tree lighting. “It’s not too late into the season just yet, so it’s not too busy today, which is nice,” Afrin said.

Actor and chef David Burtka hosted the tree lighting ceremony. He sang “Frosty the Snowman” and other festive songs while emceeing the event, introducing the numerous skaters who performed on the ice rink. The skaters included 2022 Olympians Mariah Bell, Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, as well as Kaiya Ruiter, the 2024 Canadian National Champion, Emmanuel Savary, a two-time U.S. National Medalist and groups Ice Theatre of New York, Figure Skating in Harlem and The Skyliners.

Ice Theater of New York, a nonprofit professional ice dance company, performed along to the song “Hot Chocolate,” performed by Tom Hanks, from “The Polar Express,” with the skaters dressed like the waiters from the iconic Christmas movie. The Skyliners, a synchronized skating team, skated along to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams.

Kris Roberts came to the park to watch the tree lighting ceremony, which she said gets her into the holiday mood. “I love seeing the ice skating, I think that’s what makes it more fun than the other tree lightings,” Roberts said. “I’m obsessed with fireworks, so I love that.” Attending the tree lighting is an annual tradition for Roberts, who is from New York. “I go a Christmasing and this is what starts it off,” she said. “It’s Christmas season now that we have the tree lighting.”