Chicago’s Iconic Holiday Tree Comes to Light Thanks to BrightView

‘Tis the season to be jolly thanks to the instillation of the iconic Chicago Christmas tree. BrightView has been involved with the selection, removal, and transportation of the showcase tree since 2009.

Chicago’s Millennium Park will play host to the Christmas tree, which will be seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors this upcoming holiday season.

The 46-year-old winning tree came from Elgin, Ill., beating out 41 other candidates. Tipping the scales at 35 tons, this massive evergreen was no easy task to transport. The 55-foot blue spruce tree was cut down by BrightView and loaded onto a flatbed truck with a crane. BrightView then transported the tree south of the city in preparation for its installation in Millennium Park.

“We provide the assessment services for the finalist trees and then transport and install the winning tree,” said Rick Corby, BrightView Senior Account Manager. “Chicago trusts us as the experts and has relied on our horticulture expertise to this service since 2009.”

Strung with more than 40,000 lights and topped with a brightly lit star, the winning tree met the contest criteria – it is at least 55 feet tall, comes from a community within 100 miles of Chicago, and is either a fir or blue spruce.

Now in its 106th season, the tree lighting ceremony is set for November 22.