The Boston Common Tree Lighting is the City's official start to the holiday season, and the 2026 ceremony is on Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Boston Common, next to the Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street. It is free. The tree is a gift from the Province of Nova Scotia, sent every year to thank Boston for the help it rushed to Halifax after the explosion of December 6, 1917; 2026 marks the 55th year of the gift. In the last two years the tree was switched on at about 7:55 p.m., and the trees of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall follow at about 8:15 p.m. Details below are from the City of Boston and the Government of Nova Scotia, checked October 7, 2026.
Boston Common Tree Lighting 2026 at a glance
| Event | Date and time | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia tree arrives | Tuesday, November 17, about 11 a.m. | Boston Common |
| Boston Common Tree Lighting | Thursday, December 3, 6 to 8 p.m. | Boston Common, by the Visitor Information Center, 139 Tremont Street |
| Commonwealth Avenue Mall lighting | Thursday, December 3, about 8:15 p.m. | Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Arlington Street to Charlesgate, Back Bay |
| Cost | Free | No tickets |
When is the tree lighting?
The ceremony is held on a Thursday evening in early December. It fell on December 5 in 2024, December 4 in 2025 and December 3 in 2026: in each of those years the first Thursday of December, one week after Thanksgiving rather than the night after it. The celebration runs for two hours from 6 p.m., and the lights go on near the end. The City announces the date in the fall; for 2026 it was already on the City's events calendar by late September.
The tree arrives about two weeks earlier. In 2025 it rolled onto the Common by flatbed truck on Tuesday, November 18, at 11 a.m., and the public was welcome to cheer it in, with candy canes and an appearance by Santa. The City lists the 2026 arrival for about 11 a.m. on November 17.
What happens on the night
The lighting is a civic ceremony with entertainment, hosted by the Mayor, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Province of Nova Scotia. For 2026 the City says Mayor Michelle Wu will be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston. In 2024 and 2025 the two-hour celebration began at 6 p.m., WCVB Channel 5 carried it live from 7 p.m., and the tree was lit at about 7:55 p.m. The City had not published the 2026 broadcast details or performer lineup when this guide was checked.
Straight after the Common, the Mayor joins the Friends of the Public Garden and the Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall to switch on the trees along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Back Bay, from Arlington Street to Charlesgate, at about 8:15 p.m. The Mall lighting starts at Arlington Street, beside the Public Garden; Arlington station on the Green Line is on Arlington Street at Boylston Street.
The Mall lighting has grown in recent years. In 2024 the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Charlesgate Alliance lit the Charlesgate Park block in their signature emerald green for the fourth year, and the Mall's lights reached as far as Kenmore Square for the second year; for 2026 the City describes the lighting as running from Arlington Street to Charlesgate.
The December guide covers the rest of the season. The Frog Pond on the Common, run by The Skating Club of Boston in partnership with the City, is the Common's winter skating rink.
Why Nova Scotia sends Boston a tree
On December 6, 1917, two ships collided in Halifax Harbour and set off an explosion that killed nearly 2,000 people and left thousands more injured and homeless. Boston dispatched a train with supplies and emergency personnel within 24 hours. Nova Scotia has never forgotten it. The Province says it sends the tree each holiday season "to thank them for the help they provided after the Halifax Explosion."
Massachusetts' own record of that response survives in the report of the relief commissioner, A. C. Ratshesky, to Governor Samuel W. McCall. News of the disaster reached the State House at about 11 a.m. on December 6; the Governor offered Halifax "unlimited assistance" by telegram, and when the wires failed, by wireless. A special train of two Pullman cars, a buffet car and a baggage car left Boston at 10 p.m. that night, carrying State Guard surgeons, nurses, Red Cross representatives and surgical supplies, blankets and clothing. It fought a blizzard beyond Saint John, New Brunswick, broke through a snowdrift higher than the baggage-car door, and reached Halifax at about 3 a.m. on December 8. Further shipments followed by rail and sea, including glass, building materials and glaziers. The full 1918 report is held by the Nova Scotia Legislature.
The annual gift began in 1971, when Nova Scotia offered one of its native evergreens to Boston, and Nova Scotia credits Joseph Slaunwhite of Lunenburg County with donating the first Tree for Boston. For its first 30 years the tree stood in front of the Prudential Center; in 2002 it moved to Boston Common, where the Province and the City now stage the lighting together.
The trees are nominated by Nova Scotians. The 2025 tree was a 45-foot (13.7-meter) white spruce from Martins Brook in Lunenburg County, nominated by former owners Ronald and Claire Feener, who planted it in their front yard more than 40 years earlier; it was cut on November 12 at a public event that included a smudging ceremony led by Holly Meuse of L'sitkuk First Nation. The 2024 tree was a 30-year-old, 45-foot white spruce from Mattie Settlement in Antigonish County. Nova Scotia announces each year's tree in the fall.
Getting there: the T and the Common
Take the T to Park Street, the Red and Green Line station at Tremont and Winter streets on the edge of the Common. The ceremony is beside the Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street, which is also the start of the Freedom Trail. The Common borders Beacon Hill, Downtown Crossing and the Theatre District, so most central hotels are a walk away. For the Commonwealth Avenue Mall afterward, you can walk or ride the Green Line from Park Street to Arlington.
Practical tips
- Dress for an outdoor December evening. The whole two-hour program is outside on the Common, and the lights go on near the end.
- Plan both lightings. The Commonwealth Avenue Mall is lit about 20 minutes after the Common tree, so you can see the second from Arlington Street after the first.
- Watch from home if you prefer. In 2024 and 2025 WCVB Channel 5 broadcast the ceremony live from 7 p.m.; check the City's announcement for 2026.
- No tickets. The event is free and open to the public.
Other holiday lightings in Boston, 2026
The Parks Department runs a short season of lightings. For 2026 the City lists the 24th annual lighting of the trellis at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End on November 23, the lighting of the ship at Martin's Park on the Children's Wharf Harborwalk on November 28, and the Copley Square Tree Lighting on Monday, November 30, starting at 5 p.m., presented with the Friends of Copley Square, BXP, Sasaki and the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Copley Square's lighting returned in 2025 for the first time since 2022, after the square's renovation. In 2025 the Columbus Park trellis carried 50,000 blue lights along 260 feet. Our November guide and winter guide for families cover the weeks around them.
Where to stay near Boston Common
Hotels on the edges of the Common put you a short walk from the tree and the Park Street station. The Omni Parker House is on School Street off Tremont; the Hilton Boston Park Plaza is at 50 Park Plaza, and our guide to things to do near the Boston Park Plaza maps the area. The Revere Hotel Boston Common is another option. For more of the neighborhood around the Common and the Massachusetts State House, see things to do in downtown Boston.
Sources: City of Boston: Boston Common Tree Lighting 2026, 2026 holiday lightings, 2025 holiday lightings, 2024 holiday lightings, Government of Nova Scotia: Tree for Boston, 2025 Tree for Boston, Boston Tree Finds New Home (2002), MBTA Park Street. Checked October 7, 2026.
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