Ooh, Aah: World's Tallest Live-Cut Tree Lighting

The stupendously ginormous tree at the Citadel Outlets is ready for its glittery glow show.

Craning your neck as far back as you can? While shielding your eyes from sunlight? And emitting a "whoa" or "look at that!" or some other exclamation conveying surprise and delight?

You just might be looking at the World's Tallest Live-Cut Christmas Tree, a seasonal staple that takes centerstage at the Citadel Outlets off the 5 Freeway, just a pinch and a scoot southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

"A pinch and a scoot"=ten or so minutes, give or take, what with traffic.

But if you're sun-shielding your eyes, you're admiring the mega fir in the daytime, which means you're not basking in its full, light-laden splendor. And when we say "light-laden," we're not exaggerating: Eighteen thousand LED bulbs, in a host of wowza colors, weave through the branches.

To see that splendor glimmer for the first time in 2017, best be at Citadel Outles on Saturday, Nov. 11 for one of the first official public tree-lightings of the Southern California holiday season. 

As is tradition at the shopping center, the evening is also about live music. Arrive well in advance of the 7 p.m. lighting for a concert from John Lindahl, plus Forever in Your Mind. And providing some sweet cheer for the treeful moment? The All-American Boys Chorus.

The tunes kick off at 5 o'clock.

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You'll probably want to impress the people in your car with tree-based factoids on your ride over, so here are a few: The 115-foot tree hails from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. In its place, back in the forest? A dozen young trees were planted.

And it stands at twice the length of the Hollywood Sign, if you're trying to wrap your mind around what 115 feet means.

Adding to the splendor and light-laden-ness? "Over 10,000 large sphere, bell and swirl ornaments," and "...oversized drum and toy soldiers around the base of the tree," meaning hundreds of SoCal families, couples, and holiday mavens will be posing for pictures right there in the weeks to come.

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