Delray Beach's 100-foot Christmas tree celebrates 30 years. How does it compare to others?
DELRAY BEACH — It’s 10 stories tall, just celebrated 30 years in the city and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Delray Beach come holiday season.
What is it that makes the Delray Beach 100-foot Christmas tree so special?
The tree’s gone up every year since 1993. It started as a 50-footer purchased by the city’s Downtown Development Authority to help grow the area’s economy, per the DDA. Downtown wasn’t always as buzzing with people as it is today.
Two years later, in celebration of the city’s centennial in 1995, the DDA bought an additional 50 feet to add to the tree. 100 feet for 100 years — and it's stayed that way since.
How does the Delray Beach Christmas tree compare nationally?
It’s about 20 feet taller than Rockefeller Center’s, and twice the height of Bryant Park’s — two of New York City’s most iconic holiday attractions.
It’s a third of the size of the largest Christmas tree in the U.S. — DeSoto Parish’s 300-foot tree — in Louisiana. And it’s about three times the size of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace Christmas tree in Boston.
Nearly 40 feet taller than Detroit’s Campus Martius Park tree and about five times the size of the White House and Atlanta airport Christmas trees, Delray Beach’s tree is the largest in Florida. It was ranked among the most famous trees in America this year by the North Carolina radio station Kiss 95.1 FM.
How much did the Christmas tree cost in Delray Beach?
In 2017, a replacement tree was needed after city leaders deemed the original 100-foot tree had become unsafe. Its steel frame caused rusting and cracking, making it structurally unsound.
The replacement, this time with an aluminum frame, cost taxpayers nearly $800,000. It’s since been going up with the help of volunteers, some of whom have been in the gig for decades, on North Swinton Avenue in Old School Square.
Other fun facts about Delray’s 100-foot tree
The tree has 18,000 ornaments and 217,980 individual LED lights.
It's made of aluminum sections, which, when stacked together, create rings. The rings are lifted via crane to form the tree.
It goes up in the middle of October because its structure and the houses inside and outside of it take around two weeks to set up.
The tree will be up until Dec. 31. The last days to visit Santa will be Friday, Dec. 22, and Saturday, Dec. 23. Pictures with Santa cost $10, but visitors can walk through the tree for free. A full list of hours and holiday village activities can be found online at www.delraybeachfl.gov.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tallest in Florida: 100-foot Christmas tree celebrates 30 years
