No, You Don’t Need Tickets to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Here’s a public service announcement, as there appears to be a lot of misinformation about this year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. First, no, you don’t need to reserve tickets in advance or get a ticket in person to see the tree. A spokesperson for Rockefeller Center confirmed for us, “There are no tickets to view the tree and advance reservations are not required.” Instead, there will be a virtual queuing system that will issue a QR code to visitors upon arrival. Scanning the code will tell the visitor how long the current wait time is and they will receive a text message on when they should return to the line to see the tree. There will be dedicated tree-viewing zones and you’ll be directed into “delineated pods” placed six feet apart that can fit for people. Groups with more than four people will get separated into two pods.

The confusion seems to stem a press conference held by Mayor Bill de Blasio on November 29th. He stated there, “First, we’ve been working with the State on the right way to approach this and we have agreed on a ticketing plan. Details will be announced later on today or tomorrow.” At the press conference the next day, de Blasio did not mention anything explicitly about tickets, but he did state, “There will be a reservation system, groups of no more than four people at a time will be able to go up and view the tree. It’s a timed socially distanced approach. And obviously it means it will be limited, the number of people that can get close.”

The list of publications that published articles with subjects focused solely on the need for tickets is long  — it was the news piece of the beginning of the week. But the answer is now clear: no tickets required to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree this year, but there will be the queuing system in place when you arrive.

Photo: Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer

The 2020 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit from 6 AM to midnight daily, and also live streamed from 8 AM to midnight daily at rockefellercenter.com.

Next, see more photos of this year’s Christmas tree lit!