Christmas may still be a few weeks away, but L.A. is already getting ready for the most wonderful time of the year. Between twinkling lights, ice skating rinks, festive markets and cozy concerts, the city is slowly filling up with holiday cheer.
And one of the season’s most iconic sights is returning to Commerce: Citadel Outlets’ 115-foot fresh-cut Christmas tree, which begins its journey into the spotlight this week.
Behold the world’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree
Standing an impressive 115 feet tall, the giant white fir is making a three-day journey of more than 600 miles from Mount Shasta in Northern California to Citadel Outlets in Commerce, arriving on Monday, October 19, ahead of the shopping center’s annual holiday celebrations. The tree will be installed at Center Court, where it will become the centerpiece of the shopping destination’s annual holiday celebrations.
The tree is hand-selected by Victor Serrao, owner of Victor’s Christmas Trees, a family-run business with more than 50 years of experience sourcing and transporting oversized Christmas trees. Its branches are carefully trimmed before the fir is secured to a flatbed truck for the long trip south.
For a sense of scale, the tree stands about 70 feet taller than the Hollywood Sign and 25 feet taller than the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel. It also rises above Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, making it a particularly impressive sight in SoCal.
When is the Citadel Outlets Christmas tree lighting ceremony?
Over the following two weeks, the fir will be decorated with more than 18,000 twinkling lights and 10,000 bows and ornaments, ready for the shopping center’s annual tree lighting celebration.
The 25th Annual Tree Lighting Concert and Celebration will take place on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, making it an easy way to get into the holiday spirit without spending a dime on admission. Santa Claus is expected to join the festivities, and the evening will culminate in the lighting of the towering Christmas tree.
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