Detroit's Christmas tree arrives Nov. 4, and the free tree lighting returns Nov. 20

Detroit's Christmas tree arrives downtown on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and the free tree lighting that follows it returns Friday, Nov. 20.

It starts with a delivery in daylight, and everyone is invited to watch. The Downtown Detroit Partnership says this year's tree, delivered by Amazon, arrives at Campus Martius Park between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 and is lifted into place at Woodward Avenue near Monroe Street. Anyone downtown that morning is invited to watch it go up. The Partnership, founded in 1922, produces the lighting, and the DTE Foundation presents it.

Sixteen days later comes the night Detroit plans around. The 23rd annual Detroit Tree Lighting, presented by the DTE Foundation, is set for Friday, Nov. 20, with a free celebration: live music from national and local performers, figure skating shows, food trucks and festive lighting displays. The Partnership says more details on this year's lineup are coming.

Last year's lighting, the 22nd, ran from 4 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, at Campus Martius Park, with live musical performances, figure skating on the rink, and food trucks.

Campus Martius is young for a tradition this size. The park was dedicated on Nov. 19, 2004, covers 1.2 acres around the Woodward Fountain, and brings out a seasonal ice skating rink each winter. It has become the site of the city's annual tree lighting celebration. The rink was built to resemble the one at Rockefeller Center, only larger, and a medallion in the diamond around the fountain marks Detroit's point of origin.

The tree stands on the Woodward Fountain at the center of the park. In 2011 it was a 60-foot Norway spruce, a gift from the Kettunen Center, a 4-H center near Cadillac. That year the entertainment started at 6:30 p.m. and the lights came on at 8.

Both days are free. The arrival is a lunch-hour stop on Woodward near Monroe, and the lighting is an evening at Campus Martius Park. Put Nov. 4 and Nov. 20 on the calendar now; the Partnership will fill in the performers and the schedule as the dates get closer.