A 38-foot blue spruce from Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood will brighten Downtown this holiday season after being selected as Pittsburgh’s official Christmas tree for 2026.
The tree was selected by the Forestry Division of the Department of Public Works and donated by a Brighton Heights homeowner. It will be displayed outside the City-County Building as Pittsburgh celebrates its 113th annual Christmas tree, the City of Pittsburgh announced in a social media post.
The tree will be transported to Downtown in November and illuminated during Highmark Light Up Night. The event serves as the region’s official kick-off to the holiday season, organized by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
Pittsburgh’s official Christmas Tree first stood at the construction site of the City-County Building in 1915. For more than a century, a live evergreen has been placed at the front steps of the building, decorated in hundreds of large ornaments.
As described on the city’s website, some of the ornaments include Pittsburgh’s Coat of Arms designed by Wendell August Forge and 90 distinct ornaments with names of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.
Light Up Night is one of the city’s oldest holiday traditions. This year, the celebrations marks its 65th year.
Festivities along Grant Street will also include live music, light show, fireworks, food trucks, select artists and makers, games and a one-of-a-kind gingerbread house display, the city’s website said.
This year’s Light Up Night is starts at 5 p.m. on Nov. 21, which is the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Following the holiday season, the tree will be turned into mulch for the CitiParks system.