Detroit Youth Choir, Olympic skaters to perform at tree lighting ceremony

Even though it's only November, the Christmas season is already underway in Detroit, kicking off with a downtown tradition.

The Downtown Detroit Partnership and the DTE Foundation announced Wednesday the 16th Annual Detroit Tree Lighting Ceremony and Light Up Beacon Park will both be held Nov. 22. The free events will go from 5 p.m. to midnight.

Headlining the Campus Martius tree lighting ceremony will be Ann Arbor native and Grammy-nominated singer Mayer Hawthorne. Also  expected to perform are the Detroit Youth Choir, World Champion figure skater and two-time Olympian Yuka Sato, and Olympian Miari Nagasu, the first American figure skater to land a triple axel at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

This tree will be a Michigan-grown, 60-foot tall Norway spruce that will feature 19,000 multi-colored, energy efficient LED lights and hundreds of sparkling ornaments. 

“The annual tree lighting ceremony at Campus Martius Park has truly become a holiday tradition for the Detroit community and visitors alike,” said Robert Gregory, Chief Public Spaces Officer for DDP.

This year the holiday celebration also spreads to nearby Beacon Park, where Light Up Beacon Park will feature performances by Staffanie Christ’ian, Casali Holiday Dancers, DJ Invisible and Shigeto, as well as visits with Santa, food trucks and interactive light displays. New to the event this year is a children's tree. 

“The tree lighting ceremony is such a special night for the Detroit community, and we are honored to support an event that brings families and friends together from around the region,” said DTE Foundation Chair Nancy Moody. “We are thrilled to be home of Detroit’s only children’s tree in Beacon Park for the first time and look forward to including students who had a hand in decorating the tree in the inaugural ceremony.”

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